Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Shares Purchased by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 748,264 shares of the software company’s stock after buying an additional 14,656 shares during the quarter. Adobe comprises 0.6% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. National Pension Service’s holdings in Adobe were worth $446,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Adobe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,700,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Adobe by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,106 shares of the software company’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Adobe by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 223,667 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $133,440,000 after acquiring an additional 41,164 shares in the last quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Adobe by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Team Hewins LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the third quarter worth approximately $4,141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays cut their price target on Adobe from $700.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. TheStreet lowered Adobe from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $705.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $620.72.

Adobe Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE traded down $4.78 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $483.32. 737,616 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,386,568. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.53 billion, a PE ratio of 46.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. Adobe Inc. has a 12 month low of $331.89 and a 12 month high of $638.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $505.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $561.00.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 39.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Adobe 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,940,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.30, for a total transaction of $1,286,775.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,014,370.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,006 shares of company stock worth $1,424,432 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Adobe 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.