Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ADSK. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Autodesk from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Autodesk from $265.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Autodesk in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet upgraded Autodesk from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Autodesk from $232.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.44.

Autodesk Stock Performance

Shares of ADSK opened at $217.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $247.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.47. Autodesk has a one year low of $188.38 and a one year 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 has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.43.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The software company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.14. Autodesk had a return on equity of 75.01% and a net margin of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Autodesk will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,450 shares in the company, valued at $898,621.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 1,757 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,450 shares in the company, valued at $898,621.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rebecca Pearce sold 1,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.54, for a total value of $409,507.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,974.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,166 shares of company stock worth $9,465,055 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADSK. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Autodesk by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 237 shares of the software company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Autodesk by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,762 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,864,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Autodesk by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the software company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Autodesk by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,375 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,770,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Autodesk by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the software company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. 90.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.