Everence Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 50.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,097 shares of the software company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,750 shares during the quarter. Adobe accounts for about 0.6% of Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $8,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Adobe by 1.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,632,322 shares of the software company’s stock worth $7,180,322,000 after buying an additional 269,173 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in 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 buying an additional 277,484 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 buying an additional 202,136 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Adobe in the fourth quarter worth $1,757,029,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 buying an additional 498,957 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total value of $1,318,346.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Adobe news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total transaction of $1,318,346.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $2,400,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,063 shares of company stock worth $1,853,025 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADBE shares. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on Adobe from $700.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler Companies reduced their target price on Adobe from $705.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $660.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $620.72.

Adobe Trading Up 1.3 %

ADBE traded up $6.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $476.22. 2,626,477 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,604,997. Adobe Inc. has a 52 week low of $331.89 and a 52 week high of $638.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $538.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $567.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.