Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Down 0.7%

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)’s share price fell 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $483.82 and last traded at $484.85. 374,690 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 3,382,923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $488.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADBE. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Adobe from $557.00 to $511.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Adobe from $650.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Adobe from $700.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $620.72.

Adobe Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $216.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $560.49.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.10. Adobe had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 39.12%. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Adobe announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software company to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.30, for a total value of $1,286,775.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,014,370.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.30, for a total transaction of $1,286,775.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,014,370.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,006 shares of company stock worth $1,424,432. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new stake in Adobe in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Adobe by 266.7% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 55 shares of the software company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 346.2% during the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Adobe during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 63.8% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

About Adobe

Adobe Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified software company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Digital Media, Digital Experience, and Publishing and Advertising. The Digital Media segment offers products, services, and solutions that enable individuals, teams, and enterprises to create, publish, and promote content; and Document Cloud, a unified cloud-based document services platform.