Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 201.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,383 shares of the software company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,384 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $60,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ADBE. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in Adobe by 226.7% during the 3rd 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Adobe by 141.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adobe in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ADBE. StockNews.com raised Adobe from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Adobe from $550.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Adobe currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.40.

Adobe Stock Performance

Shares of ADBE stock opened at $516.26 on Wednesday. Adobe Inc. has a 12-month low of $433.97 and a 12-month high of $638.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $502.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $520.96.

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. Adobe had a return on equity of 42.82% and a net margin of 25.59%. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 14.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.42, for a total transaction of $232,525.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,763,437.76. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.58, for a total transaction of $13,039,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,187 shares of company stock valued at $17,736,369. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

About Adobe

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.