Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Stock

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $340.00 to $350.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the software company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ADSK. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Autodesk from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Autodesk from $290.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Autodesk from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Autodesk from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Autodesk from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Autodesk presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.43.

Autodesk Price Performance

ADSK opened at $319.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $287.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $255.89. Autodesk has a 12-month low of $195.32 and a 12-month high of $326.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $68.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.32, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.47.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The software company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.15. Autodesk had a return on equity of 59.41% and a net margin of 18.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Autodesk’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Autodesk will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autodesk

In other news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 286 shares of the company’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 directly owns 4,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,944.36. This represents a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Steven M. Blum sold 17,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $4,682,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,616,730. This trade represents a 50.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,280 shares of company stock worth $5,232,213 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autodesk

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Autodesk by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,491 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Autodesk by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,577 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Autodesk by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,875 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Autodesk by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Autodesk by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 920 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 90.24% of the stock is owned by 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.