New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Holdings in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) by 2,073.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 437,572 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 417,441 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.53% of Aspen Aerogels worth $2,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 549,709 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 40,279 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aspen Aerogels during the fourth quarter valued at $2,909,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 128,800 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,192 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Aspen Aerogels by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,267 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 10,311 shares in the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aspen Aerogels

In related news, CEO Donald R. Young acquired 20,000 shares of Aspen Aerogels stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.35 per share, for a total transaction of $107,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 550,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,947,079.60. This trade represents a 3.77% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:ASPN traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.77. 1,536,277 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,843,180. The stock has a market capitalization of $637.58 million, a P/E ratio of -2.22 and a beta of 2.65. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.16 and a 1 year high of $33.15. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 3.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average price is $6.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.39.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The construction company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $78.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.75 million. Aspen Aerogels had a positive return on equity of 6.69% and a negative net margin of 65.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Analysts predict that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $7.00 price target (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer downgraded Aspen Aerogels from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aspen Aerogels presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.44.

About Aspen Aerogels

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.