Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Bought by Montag & Caldwell LLC

Montag & Caldwell LLC raised its holdings in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,986 shares of the software company's stock after buying an additional 3,870 shares during the quarter. Adobe comprises about 2.5% of Montag & Caldwell LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Montag & Caldwell LLC's holdings in Adobe were worth $11,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADBE. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Adobe by 224.8% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 17,813 shares of the software company's stock worth $7,921,000 after acquiring an additional 12,329 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Adobe by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 16,574 shares of the software company's stock worth $7,370,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in Adobe by 424.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 235,756 shares of the software company's stock valued at $104,836,000 after purchasing an additional 190,802 shares during the period. Kane Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,407,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Adobe by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 1,960 shares of the software company's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 334 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.83, for a total value of $145,567.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,170,203.55. This trade represents a 11.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Adobe Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADBE traded up $4.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $348.80. 5,206,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,419,004. Adobe Inc. has a 12-month low of $332.01 and a 12-month high of $587.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.49. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $403.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.04.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.11. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.48 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADBE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Adobe from $580.00 to $540.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down from $600.00) on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Adobe from $551.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Adobe from $600.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.27.

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.