Empirical Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 3,598.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,230 shares of the software company’s stock after buying an additional 68,331 shares during the period. Adobe makes up about 0.9% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Adobe were worth $31,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ADBE. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in Adobe by 226.7% during the 3rd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 49 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adobe in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 51,482 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 11,522 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Adobe by 141.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 58 shares of the software company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Adobe Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $426.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $185.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $514.33. Adobe Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $403.75 and a fifty-two week high of $638.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The software company reported $4.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 25.85% and a return on equity of 45.87%. Adobe’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.97, for a total transaction of $327,839.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,316,693.55. This trade represents a 19.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scott Belsky sold 481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,128 shares in the company, valued at $8,763,437.76. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,763 shares of company stock valued at $893,665 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ADBE. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $644.00 to $587.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Adobe from $610.00 to $590.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Adobe from $525.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $475.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Adobe in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $573.00.

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.