Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 1,099 Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 88.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 1,099 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Adobe were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ADBE. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Adobe during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 81.8% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in Adobe by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 21,670 shares of the software company’s stock worth $9,636,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Adobe by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 25,405 shares of the software company’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 7,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in Adobe by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 14,530 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $6,461,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Adobe Trading Up 0.7 %

Adobe stock opened at $385.78 on Thursday. Adobe Inc. has a 12 month low of $370.95 and a 12 month high of $587.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.84. The company has a market capitalization of $164.42 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In related news, CFO Daniel Durn purchased 1,300 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $390.58 per share, for a total transaction of $507,754.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,668,968.08. The trade was a 4.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.28, for a total value of $403,172.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,687,063.84. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Adobe from $620.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Adobe from $490.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group set a $495.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $660.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Adobe from $551.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $531.54.

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.