Wright Investors Service Inc. Trims Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,993 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Adobe comprises about 1.5% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADBE. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Adobe by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the software company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Adobe in the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,947,000. United Bank lifted its position in Adobe by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,109 shares of the software company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Adobe by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 525,897 shares of the software company’s stock worth $239,609,000 after buying an additional 91,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in Adobe by 138.3% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 6,651 shares of the software company’s stock worth $3,030,000 after buying an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ADBE stock traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $475.93. 605,798 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,551,579. The stock has a market cap of $213.22 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $533.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $566.97. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $331.89 and a 1 year high of $638.25.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.10. The business 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%. Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. Research analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 EPS for the current 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 purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In other news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total transaction of $1,318,346.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Adobe news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total value of $1,318,346.61. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of Adobe 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,940,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,075 shares of company stock worth $1,848,418. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADBE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Adobe from $650.00 to $640.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $660.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Adobe from $700.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on Adobe from $557.00 to $511.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $620.72.

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.