Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 310,339 Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,113,685 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 310,339 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Adobe worth $939,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Adobe during the fourth quarter valued at $2,553,035,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Adobe by 82,528.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,042,775 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,513 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Adobe by 82.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,107,788 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $937,291,000 after purchasing an additional 952,233 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth about $243,827,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,168,584 shares of the software company’s stock worth $519,646,000 after buying an additional 347,536 shares in the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Adobe news, Director David A. Ricks purchased 2,250 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $443.98 per share, with a total value of $998,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,212,796.32. This trade represents a 82.30 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Durn acquired 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $390.58 per share, with a total value of $507,754.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,668,968.08. This represents a 4.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Adobe Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:ADBE opened at $385.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $431.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.92. Adobe Inc. has a one year low of $374.50 and a one year high of $587.75. The firm has a market cap of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ADBE. KeyCorp upgraded Adobe from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Adobe from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group set a $495.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Adobe from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Adobe from $605.00 to $528.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $533.85.

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.