Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Up 1.8% – Still a Buy?

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) shot up 1.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $423.97 and last traded at $420.15. 1,286,448 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 3,841,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ADBE shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Adobe from $625.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Adobe from $700.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Adobe from $685.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $475.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Adobe from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $573.00.

Adobe Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $477.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.73. The company has a market capitalization of $189.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.87% and a net margin of 25.85%. Adobe’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.42, for a total value of $232,525.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,128 shares in the company, valued at $8,763,437.76. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy Banse sold 606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $333,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,110,950. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,763 shares of company stock valued at $893,665 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adobe

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Adobe by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,712,616 shares of the software company’s stock worth $765,094,000 after buying an additional 33,414 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Adobe by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 19,322 shares of the software company’s stock worth $10,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Adobe by 28.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,458 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Adobe by 201.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 117,383 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $60,779,000 after purchasing an additional 78,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 33.0% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 8,519 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

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.