Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,970,098 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 86,310 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $689,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Willis Investment Counsel raised its stake in Adobe by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 40,715 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $14,250,000 after purchasing an additional 23,671 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 112.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,341,410 shares of the software company’s stock worth $469,467,000 after purchasing an additional 710,357 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Adobe by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 174,626 shares of the software company’s stock worth $61,117,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Adobe by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 215,611 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $75,462,000 after buying an additional 25,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Adobe by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 55,179 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $19,312,000 after buying an additional 6,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Adobe

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Adobe is one of the key earnings names to watch this week, with implied volatility likely to stay elevated as investors brace for a post-earnings move. Earnings Volatility Watch: Oracle, Adobe And 8 Stocks Set For Big Swings This Week
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is focused on Adobe’s upcoming quarterly results and key operating metrics, with analysts looking beyond revenue and EPS for signs of business momentum. Curious about Adobe (ADBE) Q2 Performance? Explore Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary says Adobe’s shares are near a key test area before earnings, reflecting concern that the stock could remain range-bound until management provides a clearer outlook. Adobe Stock Struggling with Pressure Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also weighing Adobe’s valuation and whether buybacks alone can support the stock if growth remains under pressure. Adobe: Buybacks Are The Only Answer In Upcoming Earnings (Rating Downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish articles highlight Adobe’s recent weakness, its year-to-date decline, and concerns that competition in AI-powered creative software could keep sentiment fragile into earnings. Adobe (ADBE) Stock Faces Critical Q2 Earnings Test Amid 29% YTD Decline
• Negative Sentiment: Another note says Adobe stock has formed a risky pattern and could sell off further after results if the company fails to reassure investors about growth. Cheap Adobe stock has formed a risky pattern: will it crash after earnings?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADBE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Adobe from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Adobe from $400.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Adobe from $310.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $285.00 price target on Adobe in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $331.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.25, for a total value of $185,918.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,046.25. This represents a 17.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,336 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.02, for a total transaction of $331,354.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,440.66. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,091 shares of company stock valued at $18,782,773. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Adobe Trading Down 2.6%

ADBE stock opened at $244.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $99.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.00. Adobe Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.13 and a 52 week high of $419.82.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The software company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.87 by $0.19. Adobe had a return on equity of 64.48% and a net margin of 29.48%.The firm had revenue of $6.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Adobe has set its FY 2026 guidance at 23.300-23.500 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 5.800-5.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

Adobe declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software company to buy up to 24.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Adobe Profile

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.