Macquarie Initiates Coverage on Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Analysts at Macquarie assumed coverage on shares of Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price target on the software company’s stock. Macquarie’s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ADSK. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Autodesk from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Autodesk from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC cut Autodesk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Autodesk from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Autodesk from $358.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.05.

Autodesk Stock Down 1.8 %

ADSK stock opened at $303.77 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $296.76 and a 200 day moving average of $263.57. The firm has a market cap of $65.31 billion, a PE ratio of 60.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a twelve month low of $195.32 and a twelve month high of $326.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The software company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.05. Autodesk had a return on equity of 53.87% and a net margin of 18.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Autodesk’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Autodesk will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autodesk

In other Autodesk news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.84, for a total transaction of $78,604.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,879 shares in the company, valued at $1,340,944.36. This trade represents a 5.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.06, for a total value of $167,783.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,249 shares in the company, valued at $9,227,759.94. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,936 shares of company stock valued at $549,333 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autodesk

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jag Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Autodesk in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,861,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Autodesk in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,643,000. Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in shares of Autodesk in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $510,189,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Autodesk during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,087,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Autodesk by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 913,516 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $248,385,000 after buying an additional 73,363 shares during the period. 90.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.