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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ADSK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Autodesk in a report on Monday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Autodesk from $232.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Autodesk from $276.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Autodesk from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $272.44.

Autodesk Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADSK opened at $210.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a PE ratio of 50.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.92. Autodesk has a 52 week low of $188.38 and a 52 week 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The software company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Autodesk will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autodesk news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $898,621.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 2,500 shares of Autodesk stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $625,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 39,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,829,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of Autodesk 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 completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,666 shares of company stock valued at $10,090,055. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Autodesk

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. InTrack Investment Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 2.4% in the first quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 2,140 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 3.5% in the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 21,420 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $5,578,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Autodesk in the first quarter valued at about $481,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 3.1% in the first quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 11,922 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Autodesk in the first quarter valued at about $313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

About Autodesk

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.