Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,199 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $12,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Adobe in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Adobe by 226.7% during the third quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 49 shares of the software company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Adobe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Adobe by 141.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $458.82 on Wednesday. Adobe Inc. has a 1-year low of $403.75 and a 1-year high of $626.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $452.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $498.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $199.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.31.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 45.87% and a net margin of 25.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ADBE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Adobe from $700.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Adobe from $525.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Adobe from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $475.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Adobe from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $573.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Amy Banse sold 606 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $333,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,110,950. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 3,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.24, for a total value of $1,643,086.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,888,020.16. This trade represents a 17.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,681 shares of company stock worth $2,525,126 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.