North Star Asset Management Inc. Has $53.72 Million Holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,046 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 3,489 shares during the quarter. Adobe makes up 2.7% of North Star Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $53,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 4.1% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,106 shares of the software company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 223,667 shares of the software company’s stock worth $133,440,000 after purchasing an additional 41,164 shares in the last quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new position in shares of Adobe during the third quarter worth about $4,141,000. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 5.9% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 44,586 shares of the software company’s stock worth $22,734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Adobe stock traded down $8.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $465.02. 3,282,142 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,213,157. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $527.09 and a 200-day moving average of $566.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $208.33 billion, a PE ratio of 44.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.28. Adobe Inc. has a 12 month low of $331.89 and a 12 month high of $638.25.

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. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 39.12% and a net margin of 24.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software company to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Adobe news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total value of $1,318,346.61. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.71, for a total value of $1,318,346.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 96 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $470.00, for a total value of $45,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,128 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,075 shares of company stock worth $1,848,418. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADBE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. KeyCorp began coverage on Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $445.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 target price on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Adobe has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $620.72.

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.