Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $506.73.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADBE. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Adobe from $600.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Adobe from $620.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Adobe from $650.00 to $590.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Adobe from $600.00 to $510.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Adobe Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADBE traded up $6.69 on Friday, reaching $349.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,246,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,422,490. The company has a market capitalization of $149.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $398.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Adobe has a 1-year low of $332.01 and a 1-year high of $587.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.48 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Adobe will post 16.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In related news, CFO Daniel Durn acquired 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 334 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $435.83, for a total value of $145,567.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,170,203.55. This trade represents a 11.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Adobe by 3.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 156,198 shares of the software company's stock valued at $80,876,000 after purchasing an additional 5,905 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $4,167,000. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Adobe by 32.6% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 8,494 shares of the software company's stock valued at $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Adobe by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,455 shares of the software company's stock worth $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Adobe by 1.6% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 16,261 shares of the software company's stock valued at $8,420,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.