Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Acquires 213 Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 130.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 376 shares of the software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Adobe by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,862,098 shares of the software company’s stock worth $9,223,377,000 after purchasing an additional 229,776 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Adobe by 2.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,371,262 shares of the software company’s stock worth $5,288,309,000 after purchasing an additional 277,484 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Adobe by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,358,515 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,732,307,000 after purchasing an additional 202,136 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth about $1,757,029,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Adobe by 12.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,561,859 shares of the software company’s stock worth $2,326,092,000 after acquiring an additional 498,957 shares in the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Adobe Price Performance

Shares of ADBE stock traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $503.35. 2,240,736 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,653,357. Adobe Inc. has a 52-week low of $331.89 and a 52-week high of $638.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $573.39 and a 200 day moving average of $571.57. The company has a market cap of $227.79 billion, a PE ratio of 48.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Adobe announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software company to reacquire up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David Wadhwani sold 6,099 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.77, for a total transaction of $3,487,225.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,353,456.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 84 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.99, for a total value of $49,727.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,400,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Wadhwani sold 6,099 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.77, for a total transaction of $3,487,225.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,353,456.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,162 shares of company stock worth $5,340,250 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Adobe in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $445.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Adobe from $600.00 to $540.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Adobe from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Adobe from $590.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Adobe from $600.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $620.72.

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.