Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) Shares Sold by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd reduced its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 51.8% during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 41,318 shares worth $264,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Oaktop Capital Management II L.P. and Millennium Management LLC, increased their positions in Aspen Aerogels significantly in the fourth quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Aspen Aerogels reported a loss of ($0.04) EPS for the last quarter, which was an improvement over the expected loss of ($0.12), while the company's revenue was down 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

XTX Topco Ltd lessened its holdings in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) by 51.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,318 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 44,429 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd owned about 0.05% of Aspen Aerogels worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oaktop Capital Management II L.P. increased its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Oaktop Capital Management II L.P. now owns 3,740,525 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,437,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 2,389,700 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,390,000 after buying an additional 117,500 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 4,757.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,622,022 shares of the construction company's stock worth $19,270,000 after buying an additional 1,588,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Aerogels by 5.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 97.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Santhosh P. Daniel sold 4,410 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.31, for a total value of $32,237.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $145,315.49. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASPN. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Aspen Aerogels from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer lowered Aspen Aerogels from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered Aspen Aerogels from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $7.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aspen Aerogels currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.50.

Aspen Aerogels Trading Up 2.7%

ASPN traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,065,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,102,758. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.15. The stock has a market cap of $597.11 million, a PE ratio of -1.90 and a beta of 2.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $6.86 and its 200-day moving average is $6.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 3.31.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. Aspen Aerogels had a positive return on equity of 2.92% and a negative net margin of 78.53%. The firm had revenue of $78.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aspen Aerogels Company 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.