Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,169 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Adobe comprises 3.5% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $11,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Adobe by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,644,050 shares of the software company’s stock worth $3,857,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,718 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Adobe by 0.6% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,975,509 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,097,475,000 after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Adobe by 0.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,974,734 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,097,044,000 after buying an additional 15,685 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Adobe by 12.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,702,535 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $945,780,000 after buying an additional 185,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Adobe by 66,909.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,378,390 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $713,703,000 after buying an additional 1,376,333 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADBE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $660.00 to $644.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised Adobe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Adobe from $550.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.40.

Insider Transactions at Adobe

In other news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total transaction of $13,039,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 357,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,569,166. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Daniel Durn sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.44, for a total transaction of $3,350,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,838 shares in the company, valued at $10,740,738.72. The trade was a 23.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,187 shares of company stock valued at $17,736,369. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $503.37 on Friday. Adobe Inc. has a 12-month low of $433.97 and a 12-month high of $638.25. The company has a market cap of $221.58 billion, a PE ratio of 42.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $517.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The software company reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 42.82% and a net margin of 25.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 14.82 EPS for the current year.

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.