ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) Short Interest Update

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the March 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 738,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ANSS shares. StockNews.com started coverage on ANSYS in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on ANSYS from $314.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on ANSYS from $350.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ANSYS presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $322.75.

ANSYS Price Performance

Shares of ANSS stock traded down $6.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $328.16. 310,841 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,430. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 2.30. ANSYS has a 52 week low of $258.01 and a 52 week high of $364.31. The stock has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $338.37 and its 200-day moving average is $319.73.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The software maker reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.23. ANSYS had a return on equity of 11.83% and a net margin of 22.05%. The business had revenue of $805.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that ANSYS will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ANSYS

In other news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.08, for a total transaction of $51,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,049 shares in the company, valued at $1,043,001.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ANSYS

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ANSYS by 39.1% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 153 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in ANSYS by 3.9% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in ANSYS in the first quarter valued at about $1,298,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in ANSYS by 0.4% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,729 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,418,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in ANSYS in the first quarter valued at about $430,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.39% of the company’s stock.

ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.