StockNews.com Lowers Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ADSK. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Autodesk from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $276.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Autodesk from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Autodesk currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $272.44.

Autodesk Stock Up 0.7 %

ADSK opened at $217.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $247.53 and a 200 day moving average of $235.63. The company has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a PE ratio of 51.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a 12 month low of $188.38 and a 12 month high of $279.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The software company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Autodesk had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 75.01%. Autodesk’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Autodesk will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Autodesk

In related news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $1,375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,285,650. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $1,375,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,285,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.47, for a total transaction of $457,645.79. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,621.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,166 shares of company stock valued at $9,465,055. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autodesk

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Autodesk by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 237 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Autodesk by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,762 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,864,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Autodesk by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the software company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Autodesk by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,375 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Autodesk by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the software company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 90.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Autodesk Company Profile

Autodesk, Inc provides 3D design, engineering, and entertainment technology solutions worldwide. The company offers AutoCAD Civil 3D, a surveying, design, analysis, and documentation solution for civil engineering, including land development, transportation, and environmental projects; BuildingConnected, a SaaS preconstruction solution; AutoCAD, a software for professional design, drafting, detailing, and visualization; AutoCAD LT, a drafting and detailing software; computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software for computer numeric control machining, inspection, and modelling for manufacturing; Fusion 360, a 3D CAD, CAM, and computer-aided engineering tool; and Industry Collections tools for professionals in architecture, engineering and construction, product design and manufacturing, and media and entertainment collection industries.