Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Morgan Stanley reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $255.00 price objective on the software company’s stock.

ADSK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Autodesk from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Autodesk from $316.00 to $290.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Autodesk from $296.00 to $289.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Autodesk from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $295.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $262.42.

Autodesk Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Autodesk stock opened at $225.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.79 billion, a PE ratio of 48.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $218.73 and its 200 day moving average is $237.62. Autodesk has a 1 year low of $192.01 and a 1 year high of $279.53.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The software company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.10. Autodesk had a return on equity of 65.46% and a net margin of 17.66%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Autodesk will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Autodesk

In other Autodesk news, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of Autodesk 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,354,327.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Andrew Anagnost sold 21,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,213 shares in the company, valued at $27,354,327.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deborah Clifford sold 5,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.01, for a total value of $1,443,835.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,662.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,438 shares of company stock worth $7,393,778 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autodesk

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Autodesk by 263.6% during 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 buying an additional 4,563,668 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Autodesk during the 4th quarter worth about $619,404,000. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in Autodesk in the 3rd quarter worth about $170,972,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Autodesk by 1,162.9% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 817,808 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $212,973,000 after buying an additional 753,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Autodesk by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,921,044 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $711,216,000 after buying an additional 479,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

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.