Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) was upgraded by investment analysts at BNP Paribas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $425.00 price objective on the software company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.45% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ADBE. StockNews.com upgraded Adobe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Adobe from $525.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Adobe from $616.00 to $590.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Adobe from $610.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $573.00.

Adobe Stock Up 2.3 %

ADBE stock opened at $426.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $187.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Adobe has a twelve month low of $403.75 and a twelve month high of $638.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $479.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $514.33.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.87% and a net margin of 25.85%. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Adobe will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In other news, Director Amy Banse sold 606 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,110,950. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.42, for a total transaction of $232,525.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,763 shares of company stock worth $893,665 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adobe during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in Adobe by 226.7% in the 3rd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 49 shares of the software company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Adobe by 141.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Adobe in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.