Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Down 2.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) were down 2.8% during trading on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $525.00 to $475.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Adobe traded as low as $425.32 and last traded at $428.52. Approximately 2,065,248 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 2,173,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $441.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $625.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Adobe from $640.00 to $605.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Adobe from $625.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Adobe to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $582.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In related news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.97, for a total value of $327,839.72. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,316,693.55. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.42, for a total value of $232,525.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,679,809. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in Adobe by 226.7% during the 3rd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 49 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Adobe by 28.8% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 51,482 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 11,522 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Adobe by 141.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $189.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $491.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $521.41.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.67 by $0.14. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.22% and a net margin of 25.85%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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.