Erste Asset Management GmbH Decreases Stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Erste Asset Management GmbH decreased its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227,334 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 18,005 shares during the period. Adobe accounts for 1.2% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Adobe were worth $101,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Adobe by 82,528.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,042,775 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,513 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Adobe by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,690,163 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $5,017,373,000 after acquiring an additional 787,356 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,827,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Adobe by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,168,584 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $519,646,000 after acquiring an additional 347,536 shares during the period. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.24, for a total value of $1,643,086.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,334 shares in the company, valued at $7,888,020.16. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Ricks bought 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $443.98 per share, for a total transaction of $998,955.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,984 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,796.32. This trade represents a 82.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826 in the last 90 days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ADBE shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Adobe from $675.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Adobe from $644.00 to $587.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Adobe from $551.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Adobe and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Adobe from $525.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.96.

Adobe Stock Performance

Adobe stock opened at $438.60 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $439.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $484.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $190.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. Adobe Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $403.75 and a fifty-two week high of $587.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.66 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.