Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ADBE. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Adobe from $640.00 to $625.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $580.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Adobe from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and issued a $685.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on Adobe from $557.00 to $511.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Adobe has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $607.67.

Adobe Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $570.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $252.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.23, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $490.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $534.23. Adobe has a 52 week low of $433.97 and a 52 week high of $638.25.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 13th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.39 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.29 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 40.67% and a net margin of 24.86%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Adobe will post 14.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Adobe announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software company to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total transaction of $45,120.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anil Chakravarthy sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.00, for a total value of $47,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,829,839. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,270 shares of company stock worth $15,165,916. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Adobe by 266.7% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 55 shares of the software company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Adobe by 346.2% during the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Adobe during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Adobe by 63.8% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 77 shares of the software company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in Adobe during the first quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

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.