Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a decrease of 5.2% from the December 15th total of 3,080,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Autodesk news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 30,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,227,759.94. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADSK. State Street Corp increased its position in Autodesk by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,808,476 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,702,028,000 after buying an additional 288,931 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,653,602 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,557,454,000 after acquiring an additional 46,069 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 61,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Autodesk by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,192,345 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $603,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 4.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,117,357 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $523,940,000 after purchasing an additional 81,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADSK. Barclays lifted their price objective on Autodesk from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Autodesk from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Autodesk in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Autodesk currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.05.

Autodesk Stock Performance

Shares of Autodesk stock opened at $291.45 on Tuesday. Autodesk has a one year low of $195.32 and a one year high of $326.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $300.44 and its 200-day moving average is $275.79. The firm has a market cap of $62.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The software company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Autodesk had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 53.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Autodesk will post 5.76 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.