Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on ADBE. Melius lowered shares of Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Adobe from $600.00 to $540.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (down from $680.00) on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Adobe from $700.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.67.

Adobe Stock Performance

Adobe stock traded up $2.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $570.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,664,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,552,269. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.80 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.30. Adobe has a 12 month low of $433.97 and a 12 month high of $638.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $490.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $534.23.

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

Adobe declared that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of Adobe 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,576,802.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Adobe news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was 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 owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,576,802.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.51, for a total transaction of $138,734.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,439,897.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,270 shares of company stock worth $15,165,916 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADBE. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Adobe by 266.7% in 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 grew its position in shares of Adobe by 346.2% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Adobe during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Adobe by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.