Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Stock Price Down 0.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) were down 0.3% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $700.00 to $640.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Adobe traded as low as $415.51 and last traded at $421.46. Approximately 1,266,153 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 3,491,808 shares. The stock had previously closed at $422.63.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Adobe from $610.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $625.00 to $550.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $575.85.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In other Adobe news, Director Amy Banse sold 606 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $333,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,110,950. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.42, for a total transaction of $232,525.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,763,437.76. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,679,809. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Adobe by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 588 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Adobe by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 703 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Adobe by 215.0% in the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,027 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after acquiring an additional 3,431 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in Adobe by 15.3% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 8,846 shares of the software company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in Adobe by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 7,123 shares of the software company’s stock worth $3,957,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $519.35. The company has a market cap of $185.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.22%. Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

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.