Essex Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 883 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Autodesk were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADSK. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 boosted its position in Autodesk by 0.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,653,602 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,557,454,000 after purchasing an additional 46,069 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Autodesk by 2.7% during the third 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 worth $657,292,000 after purchasing an additional 61,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Autodesk by 12.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,192,345 shares of the software company’s stock worth $603,947,000 after purchasing an additional 245,816 shares during the period. Finally, Starboard Value LP bought a new position in Autodesk during the third quarter worth about $510,189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.24% of the company’s stock.

Autodesk Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of ADSK opened at $303.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.74. The company has a market capitalization of $65.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.43. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.32 and a 1-year high of $326.62.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The software company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Autodesk, Inc. will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADSK. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Autodesk from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Autodesk from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Autodesk from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $311.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Autodesk from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.77.

Autodesk 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.