Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,510 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $13,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADBE. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Adobe by 66,909.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,378,390 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $713,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,333 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Adobe in the first quarter valued at approximately $621,179,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in Adobe in the second quarter valued at approximately $663,745,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP grew its holdings in Adobe by 81.1% in the first quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 1,285,596 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $648,712,000 after purchasing an additional 575,675 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Adobe by 55,496.6% in the second quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 572,645 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $318,127,000 after purchasing an additional 571,615 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Adobe Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ ADBE opened at $512.15 on Friday. Adobe Inc. has a 12 month low of $433.97 and a 12 month high of $638.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $225.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $503.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $519.03.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The software company reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.59% and a return on equity of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 14.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total value of $13,039,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 357,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,569,166. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Durn sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.44, for a total transaction of $3,350,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,740,738.72. This trade represents a 23.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,187 shares of company stock valued at $17,736,369. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Adobe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Adobe from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $660.00 to $644.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.40.

Adobe Company Profile

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.