Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ADSK. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Autodesk from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Autodesk from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet raised Autodesk from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Autodesk from $276.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Autodesk has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.44.

Autodesk Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:ADSK traded down $4.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $210.63. 4,608,891 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,420,664. The firm has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a twelve month low of $188.38 and a twelve month high of $279.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Autodesk

In other Autodesk news, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.99, for a total value of $5,473,569.47. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,354,327.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of Autodesk stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.99, for a total transaction of $5,473,569.47. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,354,327.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of Autodesk stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.47, for a total value of $457,645.79. Following the sale, 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. Insiders have sold 46,220 shares of company stock valued at $11,933,231 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Autodesk

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Autodesk by 86.2% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 4,381 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Autodesk in the 3rd quarter valued at $330,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Autodesk in the 4th quarter valued at $7,280,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Autodesk by 3,539.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 227,410 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $55,370,000 after buying an additional 221,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its stake in Autodesk by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 4,355 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

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.