Short Interest in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) Expands By 8.0%

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,690,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the November 15th total of 2,490,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Autodesk from $290.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Autodesk from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Autodesk from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Autodesk from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.05.

Autodesk Stock Performance

Shares of ADSK stock opened at $303.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.27, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.43. Autodesk has a fifty-two week low of $195.32 and a fifty-two week high of $326.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $296.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.33.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,944.36. This represents a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.06, for a total value of $167,783.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,227,759.94. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,386 shares of company stock worth $403,308 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autodesk

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 36.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,448,968 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $413,405,000 after acquiring an additional 387,309 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Autodesk by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,785 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Autodesk by 245.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 77,008 shares of the software company’s stock worth $21,214,000 after purchasing an additional 54,712 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Autodesk in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,751,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Autodesk during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,923,000. Hedge funds and other 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.