Ascent Capital Management LLC Invests $274,000 in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Ascent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 616 shares of the software company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADBE. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Adobe during the third quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Adobe by 141.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Adobe Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of ADBE stock opened at $394.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $171.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $437.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.06. Adobe Inc. has a twelve month low of $374.50 and a twelve month high of $587.75.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.87% and a net margin of 25.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In other Adobe news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.83, for a total value of $145,567.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,170,203.55. This represents a 11.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 922 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.28, for a total transaction of $403,172.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,687,063.84. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,075 shares of company stock worth $2,191,826. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Adobe from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Adobe from $650.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Adobe from $600.00 to $525.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Adobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Adobe from $551.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.60.

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.