Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,670 shares of the software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Adobe were worth $9,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Adobe during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Adobe by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 51,482 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 11,522 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Adobe in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Adobe in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in Adobe by 171.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 76 shares of the software company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Adobe Price Performance

Shares of ADBE stock opened at $385.78 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $164.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. 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’s 50-day moving average is $428.78 and its 200 day moving average is $465.84. Adobe Inc. has a 1-year low of $370.95 and a 1-year high of $587.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.11. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.48 EPS. Research analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ADBE shares. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Adobe from $580.00 to $540.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Adobe from $650.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut Adobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Summit Redstone set a $410.00 target price on Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Eleven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $531.54.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,334 shares in the company, valued at $7,888,020.16. This represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Ricks bought 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $443.98 per share, with a total value of $998,955.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,984 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,796.32. This represents a 82.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock valued at $2,191,826 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Adobe Company Profile

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.