Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,690,000 shares, an increase of 10.9% from the March 15th total of 5,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Adobe Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADBE opened at $474.09 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $541.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $568.10. The stock has a market cap of $212.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.32, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.28. Adobe has a 1-year low of $331.89 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 39.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Adobe will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software company to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on Adobe from $700.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $685.00 price target on shares of Adobe in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler Companies reduced their price target on Adobe from $705.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Adobe from $690.00 to $675.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Adobe has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $620.72.

Insider Activity at Adobe

In related news, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.42, for a total value of $484,950.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,495,528.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Scott Belsky sold 2,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 23,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,144,998.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mark S. Garfield sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,495,528.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,063 shares of company stock valued at $1,853,025. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adobe

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ADBE. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Adobe during the fourth quarter worth about $3,277,785,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 115,991.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,248,225 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,093,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,427 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 17,006.8% during the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 2,161,614 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,102,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,978 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 1,213.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,024,438 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,207,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,804,275 shares of the software company’s stock worth $3,299,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.79% 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.