Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 931 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Autodesk were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Autodesk by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,402,242 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $5,052,732,000 after purchasing an additional 363,565 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Autodesk by 263.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,294,746 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,639,279,000 after buying an additional 4,563,668 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Autodesk by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 5,071,950 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,255,054,000 after buying an additional 1,108,973 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Autodesk by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,921,044 shares of the software company’s stock worth $711,216,000 after buying an additional 479,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Autodesk by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,859,954 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $696,342,000 after acquiring an additional 327,144 shares in the last quarter. 90.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Autodesk from $290.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Autodesk from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Autodesk from $316.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Autodesk news, COO Steven M. Blum sold 17,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,616,730. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mary T. Mcdowell sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.21, for a total transaction of $248,831.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,264,960.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 stock was sold at an average price of $270.00, for a total transaction of $4,682,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,099 shares in the company, valued at $4,616,730. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,275 shares of company stock valued at $14,220,661. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Autodesk Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADSK opened at $258.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Autodesk, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.01 and a fifty-two week high of $279.53. The stock has a market cap of $55.81 billion, a PE ratio of 56.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.78 and a 200-day moving average of $239.14.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The software company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.15. Autodesk had a return on equity of 59.41% and a net margin of 18.21%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Autodesk, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.