Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,113,685 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 310,339 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $939,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 141.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Adobe during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Adobe during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in Adobe by 171.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 76 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Stock Down 2.6 %

ADBE opened at $385.71 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $431.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $468.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Adobe Inc. has a one year low of $374.50 and a one year high of $587.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The software company reported $5.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.11. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. The business had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.48 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In other news, CFO Daniel Durn purchased 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $390.58 per share, for a total transaction of $507,754.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,668,968.08. The trade was a 4.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.83, for a total transaction of $145,567.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,170,203.55. This represents a 11.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,075 shares of company stock valued at $2,191,826. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ADBE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group set a $495.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Adobe from $644.00 to $587.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Adobe from $660.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Adobe from $600.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $533.85.

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.