In a Form 4 filing, Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital reported selling 2.11 million shares of Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) during the first three trading sessions of this week, at a weighted average price of $92.78. Following the recent sales, the friendly activist hedge fund continues to hold a stake of 9.66 million shares in the diversified software giant. The activist firm acquired a stake in Adobe Systems at the end of 2011, after which the firm reportedly argued for a subscription-based pricing model that would lower entry barriers for new customers. According to a 2013 letter to investors, the investment firm “saw a company completely embedded in its users’ workflow, with real and increasing innovation and potential to monetize that innovation through subscription-based pricing”, while most investors believed Adobe “was just a stock to be trading in and out of around product cycles”. Mr. Ubben and his team were able to fully comprehend the company’s underlying potential, which involved monetizing Adobe’s innovative solutions through subscription-based pricing, for which they have been rewarded with extremely high returns given that the stock is up by 170% in the past five years. Although Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) has been witnessing its long-term shareholder, as well as corporate insiders, cash out portions of their holdings in recent months, analysts at Pacific Crest Securities believe that the shares of the software company have more room to run. Pacific Crest Securities, which has a price target of $110 on Adobe and an “Overweight” rating, suggests that new product offerings and partnerships will keep driving sustained growth and market-share gains. The smart money sentiment towards Adobe increased in the October-to-December period, with the number of hedgies invested in the highly-successful company increasing to 46 from 42 quarter-over-quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC upped its stake in Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 16% during the December quarter, ending 2015 with 3.72 million shares.
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As revealed by a Form 4 filing with the SEC, J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital LLC sold 721,096 shares of North American Energy Partners Inc. (USA) (NYSE:NOA) on Monday at a price of $1.97 per share. After the recent sizable sale, the investment firm holds a stake of 2.89 million shares, which constitute 8.72% of the company’s shares. North American Energy Partners is a provider of mining and heavy construction services to customers in the resource development and industrial construction sectors, mainly within Western Canada. North American Energy Partners Inc. (USA) (NYSE:NOA)’s primary market represents the Canadian oil sands, where the company offers construction and operations support services in all stages of an oil sands project’s lifecycle. The depressed crude oil prices throughout 2015 forced the company’s customers to adjust to the worsening market conditions through investment delays in growth capital projects and aggressive operating cost reduction efforts. North American Energy Partners generated revenue of $281.28 million during 2015, significantly down from $471.78 million reported for 2014. Given the company’s strong balance sheet, its management plans on seeking out acquisitions to enhance its core business, as well as diversify its revenue streams. The company reduced its total debt to $110.9 million from $128.3 million during 2015, ending the year with cash on hand amounting to $32.4 million. Shares of North American Energy Partners are down by 35% in the past year, but have gained 13% year-to-date. Seven hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had long positions in the company at the end of December, accumulating approximately 28% of its outstanding common stock. Andrew Weiss’ Weiss Asset Management owns 3.01 million shares of North American Energy Partners Inc. (USA) (NYSE:NOA) as of December 31.
