Highland Capital Management LLC Buys 335 Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,709 shares of the software company’s stock after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Adobe were worth $3,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Adobe by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 16,086 shares of the software company’s stock worth $9,597,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its position in Adobe by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 2,684 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Adobe by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the software company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Adobe by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of the South purchased a new position in shares of Adobe during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Down 0.6 %

ADBE traded down $2.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $504.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,188,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,624,103. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $331.89 and a 1 year high of $638.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $575.19 and its 200-day moving average is $571.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.10. Adobe had a return on equity of 39.12% and a net margin of 24.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

Adobe declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software company to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.42, for a total value of $484,950.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,495,528.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total transaction of $1,318,346.61. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,144,998.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.42, for a total value of $484,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,055 shares in the company, valued at $2,495,528.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,162 shares of company stock valued at $5,340,250. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Adobe from $590.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on Adobe from $700.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.00.

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.