Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $570.88.

A number of research firms have commented on ADBE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Adobe from $640.00 to $605.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Adobe from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Adobe from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Adobe from $685.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Ricks acquired 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was purchased 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.24, for a total value of $1,643,086.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,888,020.16. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Adobe

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Adobe by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,712,616 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $765,094,000 after buying an additional 33,414 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Adobe by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 127,696 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $56,784,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Adobe by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 19,322 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $10,005,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Adobe by 201.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 117,383 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $60,779,000 after buying an additional 78,384 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Adobe by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 8,519 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Price Performance

Adobe stock opened at $444.78 on Friday. Adobe has a 52-week low of $403.75 and a 52-week high of $587.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $439.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $488.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.52 earnings per share. Adobe’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Adobe will post 16.65 EPS 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.