Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $538.80.

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADBE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Adobe from $515.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Adobe from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Adobe from $660.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Adobe from $605.00 to $528.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $495.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Adobe Stock Up 1.9 %

ADBE stock opened at $394.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $171.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $433.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Adobe has a twelve month low of $374.50 and a twelve month high of $587.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Adobe news, Director David A. Ricks bought 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $443.98 per share, with a total value of $998,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,796.32. This represents a 82.30 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.28, for a total value of $403,172.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,153 shares in the company, valued at $9,687,063.84. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,075 shares of company stock valued at $2,191,826. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ADBE. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at $1,351,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Adobe during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Adobe in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,659,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Adobe in the 4th quarter worth about $1,119,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Adobe by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 111,155 shares of the software company’s stock worth $49,429,000 after purchasing an additional 13,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

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.