Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Sold by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,326 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 1,726 shares during the period. Adobe makes up about 0.8% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Adobe were worth $3,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Adobe by 2.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,371,262 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $5,288,309,000 after acquiring an additional 277,484 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Adobe by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,358,515 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $2,732,307,000 after acquiring an additional 202,136 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Adobe by 12.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,561,859 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $2,326,092,000 after acquiring an additional 498,957 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Adobe by 25.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,438,805 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $2,263,347,000 after acquiring an additional 889,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in Adobe by 17,006.8% in the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 2,161,614 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,102,207,000 after buying an additional 2,148,978 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ADBE shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. KeyCorp began coverage on Adobe in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “underweight” rating and a $445.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC dropped their price objective on Adobe from $557.00 to $511.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $660.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $620.72.

Adobe Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADBE traded up $4.12 on Friday, hitting $477.56. 2,313,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,496,229. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $516.72 and its 200 day moving average is $564.69. Adobe Inc. has a 52 week low of $331.89 and a 52 week high of $638.25. The company has a market capitalization of $213.95 billion, a PE ratio of 46.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 39.12%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software company to reacquire up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,940,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Adobe news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 97 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.41, for a total transaction of $45,435.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,596.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total transaction of $45,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 293 shares of company stock valued at $137,656 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Adobe 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.