Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $325.00 to $330.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Autodesk traded as high as $315.98 and last traded at $315.36, with a volume of 492500 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $307.84.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ADSK. Barclays raised their target price on Autodesk from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Autodesk to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Autodesk from $290.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Autodesk in a report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Autodesk currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $302.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Steven M. Blum sold 17,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $4,682,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,616,730. The trade was a 50.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.06, for a total transaction of $167,783.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,227,759.94. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,280 shares of company stock valued at $5,232,213 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autodesk

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Autodesk by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,808,476 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,702,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,931 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Autodesk by 263.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,294,746 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,639,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563,668 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,653,602 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,557,454,000 after buying an additional 46,069 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Autodesk by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 5,071,950 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,255,054,000 after buying an additional 1,108,973 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Autodesk by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,385,987 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $657,292,000 after buying an additional 61,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

Autodesk Stock Up 2.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.46, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.47.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The software company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.15. Autodesk had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 59.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Autodesk, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.