XTX Topco Ltd Cuts Holdings in Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN)

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% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,318 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 44,429 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd owned 0.05% of Aspen Aerogels worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $19,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,632 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels in the 4th quarter valued at $13,122,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels in the 4th quarter valued at $9,504,000. Dendur Capital LP purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels in the 4th quarter valued at $9,207,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Aspen Aerogels by 472.4% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 766,400 shares of the construction company's stock worth $9,105,000 after purchasing an additional 632,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Aspen Aerogels Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Aspen Aerogels stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,478,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,010,345. The company has a quick ratio of 3.31, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.16 and a 52-week high of $33.15. The firm's 50-day moving average is $6.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.01. The company has a market cap of $617.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 2.73.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $78.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Santhosh P. Daniel sold 4,410 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $145,315.49. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.