Short Interest in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Declines By 5.5%

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,690,000 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the May 31st total of 7,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In related news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total transaction of $13,602,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,576,802.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Adobe news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total transaction of $45,120.00. Following the transaction, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total transaction of $13,602,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 379,660 shares in the company, valued at $206,576,802.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,270 shares of company stock valued at $15,165,916 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ADBE. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in Adobe by 63.8% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Adobe in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Up 0.4 %

ADBE stock opened at $570.15 on Thursday. Adobe has a 52-week low of $433.97 and a 52-week high of $638.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $488.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $533.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 13th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.39 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.29 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 24.86% and a return on equity of 40.67%. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Adobe will post 14.69 EPS for the current year.

Adobe announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software company to reacquire up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research report on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Adobe from $525.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Adobe from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Adobe from $630.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.67.

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.