Autodesk’s (ADSK) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a $316.00 price target on the software company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Autodesk from $265.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. TheStreet raised shares of Autodesk from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Autodesk from $276.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an outperform 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 twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $272.44.

Autodesk Stock Down 3.1 %

ADSK stock opened at $229.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $255.26 and a 200-day moving average of $235.08. 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 capitalization of $49.12 billion, a PE ratio of 54.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a one year low of $188.38 and a one year high of $279.53.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The software company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.14. Autodesk had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 75.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Autodesk will post 5.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autodesk

In other Autodesk news, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.99, for a total value of $5,473,569.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,354,327.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Autodesk news, EVP Rebecca Pearce sold 1,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.54, for a total transaction of $409,507.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,974.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.99, for a total value of $5,473,569.47. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,354,327.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,220 shares of company stock valued at $11,933,231. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autodesk

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADSK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Autodesk during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Autodesk in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autodesk in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Autodesk in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Autodesk by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 115 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 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.