Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 38,610 Shares of Autodesk, Inc. $ADSK

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Autodesk stake by 12.2% in the first quarter, selling 38,610 shares and leaving it with 277,615 shares valued at about $66.5 million.
• Autodesk reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.99 versus estimates of $2.84 and revenue of $1.93 billion versus $1.89 billion expected. Revenue rose 18.4% year over year.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on Autodesk, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.10, even though some analysts have trimmed targets recently.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277,615 shares of the software company's stock after selling 38,610 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Autodesk worth $66,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADSK. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Autodesk during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Autodesk during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Autodesk in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in Autodesk by 112.2% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 87 shares of the software company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new position in Autodesk during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 90.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autodesk Stock Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:ADSK opened at $217.06 on Friday. Autodesk, Inc. has a twelve month low of $185.50 and a twelve month high of $329.09. The company has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The software company reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Autodesk had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 57.14%. The business's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Autodesk has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.400-12.650 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.140 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Autodesk, Inc. will post 9.64 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ADSK shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Autodesk from $355.00 to $312.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Autodesk in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Autodesk in a report on Monday, June 1st. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Autodesk in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Autodesk from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Autodesk presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $326.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Autodesk

In related news, EVP Janesh Moorjani bought 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $197.67 per share, for a total transaction of $494,175.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 50,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,079,786.31. The trade was a 5.16% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John T. Cahill purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $189.20 per share, with a total value of $378,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $756,800. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 7,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,666,644 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Autodesk Profile

Autodesk, Inc NASDAQ: ADSK is a software company that develops design and creation tools for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), manufacturing, and media and entertainment industries. Headquartered in San Rafael, California, the company was founded in 1982 and is best known for pioneering CAD (computer-aided design) software. Autodesk sells products and services to a global customer base, including architects, engineers, contractors, product designers, and content creators.

The company's product portfolio includes industry-standard design and modeling applications such as AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Fusion 360, Maya and 3ds Max, as well as cloud-based collaboration and project management platforms like BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud.

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