First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 34.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 763,712 shares of the software company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193,908 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.19% of Adobe worth $185,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Adobe in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Adobe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in Adobe during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its position in Adobe by 72.3% during the 4th quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the software company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrustBank acquired a new stake in Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Adobe

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CLSA initiated coverage on Adobe with a “moderate buy” rating and a $300 price target, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: One article highlighted Adobe’s growth profile and argued the stock may still offer value despite the selloff, suggesting some investors see the pullback as overdone. Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Adobe is continuing to add AI features, including multiple AI tools in its experimental camera app, which shows ongoing product innovation but is not yet a clear near-term revenue catalyst. MSN
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s chief people officer sold a small number of shares for tax withholding, a routine insider transaction that does not by itself signal a major change in outlook. The Motley Fool
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe to underweight and cut its price target to $240 from $365, citing concerns about free-tier offerings pressuring subscriptions, leadership changes, and AI monetization risks. Yahoo Finance
• Negative Sentiment: Another analyst note said Adobe’s roughly 40% decline from its 52-week high reflects AI monetization doubts, slower near-term ARR growth, and uncertainty around leadership strategy. Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Broader commentary this week also tied Adobe’s weakness to AI-related competitive pressure across software stocks, keeping sentiment cautious. Financial Post

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David A. Ricks acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.51 per share, for a total transaction of $1,945,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,434,074.05. This represents a 130.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.54, for a total value of $18,265,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 359,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,561,884.52. This trade represents a 17.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Adobe Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADBE opened at $218.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Adobe Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.12 and a 52 week high of $376.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $227.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 11th. The software company reported $5.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 65.11% and a net margin of 28.69%.Adobe’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.06 earnings per share. Adobe has set its FY 2026 guidance at 24.350-24.450 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 6.050-6.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 19.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software company to purchase up to 24.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on ADBE shares. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Adobe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Adobe from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays cut their price target on Adobe from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Adobe from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $271.30.

About Adobe

Adobe Inc, founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke and headquartered in San Jose, California, is a global software company that develops tools and services for creative professionals, marketers and enterprises. Under the leadership of CEO Shantanu Narayen, who has led the company since 2007, Adobe has evolved from a provider of desktop publishing tools into a cloud-centric provider of digital media and digital experience solutions.

The company’s core offerings are organized around digital media and digital experience.