Northern Trust Corp Raises Holdings in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 641,050 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,364 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.78% of Aspen Aerogels worth $7,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dendur Capital LP purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels during the 4th quarter worth about $9,207,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 472.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 766,400 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $9,105,000 after buying an additional 632,500 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels in the fourth quarter worth about $5,126,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,018,631 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $23,983,000 after acquiring an additional 409,862 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Aspen Aerogels in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,760,000. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aspen Aerogels

In other Aspen Aerogels news, CEO Donald R. Young bought 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.35 per share, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 550,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,947,079.60. This trade represents a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASPN. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Aspen Aerogels from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Aspen Aerogels from $25.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aspen Aerogels to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their price target on Aspen Aerogels from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.11.

Aspen Aerogels Price Performance

Shares of ASPN traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,885,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,455. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $527.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.19 and a beta of 2.72. The company's 50-day moving average is $5.83 and its 200 day moving average is $9.89. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.16 and a 12-month high of $33.15.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The construction company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $78.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.75 million. Aspen Aerogels had a return on equity of 7.49% and a net margin of 2.95%. Aspen Aerogels's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aspen Aerogels Profile

Aspen Aerogels, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerogel insulation products primarily for use in the energy infrastructure and sustainable insulation materials markets in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Energy Industrial and Thermal Barrier.