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

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ADSK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Autodesk from $232.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $276.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Autodesk from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Autodesk from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.44.

Autodesk Stock Up 0.7 %

ADSK stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $217.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,277,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,470,440. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a PE ratio of 51.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a 12 month low of $188.38 and a 12 month high of $279.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $247.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.31.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its earnings results 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Autodesk will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Autodesk news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.74, for a total transaction of $145,607.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,262,910.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Autodesk news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.74, for a total transaction of $145,607.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,262,910.84. 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 the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.47, for a total transaction 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 sold 36,166 shares of company stock worth $9,465,055 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Autodesk in the 1st quarter valued at about $998,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Autodesk by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,625,833 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $423,399,000 after purchasing an additional 7,293 shares during the last quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Autodesk by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,338 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autodesk by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,365 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank bought a new position in shares of Autodesk in the 1st quarter valued at about $286,000. 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.