BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 117,395 Shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) by 645.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,584 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 117,395 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.17% of Aspen Aerogels worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASPN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,360,246 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,800,000 after purchasing an additional 226,251 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,018,631 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,983,000 after buying an additional 409,862 shares in the last quarter. Telemark Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Telemark Asset Management LLC now owns 1,892,424 shares of the construction company's stock worth $22,482,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,464,163 shares of the construction company's stock worth $17,398,000 after buying an additional 78,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Aspen Aerogels in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,504,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Donald R. Young bought 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.35 per share, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 550,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,947,079.60. This trade represents a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Performance

Shares of ASPN traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $6.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,885,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,455. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.89. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.16 and a 52-week high of $33.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The company has a market cap of $527.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.19 and a beta of 2.72.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Aspen Aerogels from $25.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Aspen Aerogels to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Aspen Aerogels from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.11.

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.