Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by DA Davidson

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $685.00 target price on the software company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 36.51% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ADBE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $690.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Adobe from $650.00 to $640.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $620.72.

Adobe Trading Down 0.5 %

ADBE traded down $2.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $501.81. 1,305,249 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,638,210. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Adobe has a 1 year low of $331.89 and a 1 year high of $638.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $573.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $571.57. The firm has a market cap of $227.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.29.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Adobe will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software company to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In other news, insider David Wadhwani sold 6,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.77, for a total value of $3,487,225.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,353,456.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.42, for a total transaction of $484,950.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,495,528.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Wadhwani sold 6,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.77, for a total transaction of $3,487,225.23. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,353,456.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,162 shares of company stock valued at $5,340,250. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Adobe by 222.4% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,328 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after purchasing an additional 9,194 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth $5,569,000. Napatree Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth $399,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Adobe by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 131,563 shares of the software company’s stock worth $78,491,000 after acquiring an additional 8,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Adobe by 5,381.5% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 296,000 shares of the software company’s stock worth $176,594,000 after acquiring an additional 290,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.