Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Stock Position Reduced by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC trimmed its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 5.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,865 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 870 shares during the period. Adobe makes up approximately 0.7% of Ascent Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Adobe were worth $8,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 266.7% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 55 shares of the software company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Adobe by 346.2% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Adobe during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in shares of Adobe by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Adobe Price Performance

Shares of Adobe stock opened at $515.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $545.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $517.22. Adobe Inc. has a 52 week low of $433.97 and a 52 week high of $638.25. The stock has a market cap of $228.56 billion, a PE ratio of 46.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.29.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The software company reported $4.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.53 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.59% and a return on equity of 42.82%. Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 14.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Adobe news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total transaction of $13,039,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 357,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,569,166. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Adobe news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total transaction of $13,039,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 357,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,569,166. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 1,530 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.23, for a total value of $857,151.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,405,722.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,759 shares of company stock worth $17,642,653. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ADBE shares. Argus upgraded Adobe to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Adobe from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Adobe from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $570.00 to $580.00 in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.40.

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.