Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,314,546 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 637,325 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.30% of Adobe worth $584,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Adobe during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Adobe by 141.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Adobe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Adobe during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in Adobe by 171.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 76 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ADBE shares. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Adobe from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $685.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Adobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Adobe currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $533.85.

Adobe Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $385.71 on Friday. Adobe Inc. has a 52-week low of $374.50 and a 52-week high of $587.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $431.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $469.69. The firm has a market cap of $164.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.87% and a net margin of 25.85%. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.48 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In related news, CFO Daniel Durn acquired 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $390.58 per share, for a total transaction of $507,754.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 29,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,668,968.08. This represents a 4.55 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.24, for a total transaction of $1,643,086.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,334 shares in the company, valued at $7,888,020.16. The trade was a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.