Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 589 Shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,384 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 589 shares during the quarter. Adobe accounts for 2.1% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $3,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 785 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 915 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 559 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Adobe by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 689 shares of the software company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management boosted its stake in Adobe by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 417 shares of the software company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Adobe from $690.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $660.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Adobe from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $620.72.

Adobe Stock Performance

Shares of ADBE stock opened at $484.28 on Tuesday. Adobe Inc. has a one year low of $331.89 and a one year high of $638.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $553.25 and a 200-day moving average of $568.77. 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 company has a market cap of $216.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The software company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.10. Adobe had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 39.12%. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software company to buy up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total transaction of $1,318,346.61. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,508 shares in the company, valued at $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.42, for a total value of $484,950.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,055 shares in the company, valued at $2,495,528.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,063 shares of company stock worth $1,853,025. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.