Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $606.40.

ADBE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Adobe from $560.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Adobe from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Adobe to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In other Adobe news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 1,530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.82, for a total transaction of $786,144.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,675,744.42. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total value of $13,039,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 357,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,569,166. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,187 shares of company stock worth $17,736,369. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adobe

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adobe during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Adobe by 226.7% in the third quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 49 shares of the software company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Adobe in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Adobe by 141.7% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Adobe during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company's stock.

Adobe Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $499.50. 1,873,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,156,954. The stock has a market cap of $219.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.20, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.30. Adobe has a 1 year low of $433.97 and a 1 year high of $638.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $518.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The software company reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.53 by $0.12. Adobe had a return on equity of 42.82% and a net margin of 25.59%. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Adobe will post 14.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.