STAR Financial Bank Reduces Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

STAR Financial Bank lessened its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,602 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Adobe were worth $808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Adobe by 266.7% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 55 shares of the software company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Adobe by 346.2% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Adobe by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ADBE traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $564.55. 2,367,583 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,536,827. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $500.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $533.22. The company has a market cap of $250.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Adobe Inc. has a 1-year low of $433.97 and a 1-year high of $638.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 13th. The software company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.39 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.29 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 40.67% and a net margin of 24.86%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 14.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Adobe announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software company to repurchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total transaction of $13,602,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,576,802.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Adobe news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.11, for a total value of $13,602,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 379,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,576,802.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,270 shares of company stock valued at $15,165,916. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADBE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, June 14th. TheStreet cut Adobe from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Adobe from $525.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. HSBC reduced their price target on Adobe from $557.00 to $511.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Adobe from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.67.

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.