Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a growth of 45.7% from the August 15th total of 2,450,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Autodesk

In related news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $129,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,566 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,010. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Steven M. Blum sold 17,344 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total value of $4,682,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,616,730. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $129,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,566 shares in the company, valued at $7,418,010. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,762 shares of company stock worth $10,029,527. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autodesk

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Autodesk by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the software company's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Autodesk by 153.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 384,380 shares of the software company's stock worth $93,589,000 after purchasing an additional 232,441 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Autodesk by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,650 shares of the software company's stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Autodesk by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 73,893 shares of the software company's stock valued at $17,991,000 after buying an additional 8,456 shares during the period. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of Autodesk during the 1st quarter worth about $903,000. Institutional investors own 90.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Autodesk from $296.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Autodesk from $316.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho upped their target price on Autodesk from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Autodesk from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.17.

Autodesk Stock Performance

ADSK traded up $4.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $263.96. 1,468,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,661,470. Autodesk has a 52 week low of $192.01 and a 52 week high of $279.53. 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 50 day moving average of $248.36 and a 200 day moving average of $239.33. The stock has a market cap of $56.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.13, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.48.

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