First Merchants Corp Trims Stake in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

First Merchants Corp cut its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,072 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 4,982 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Adobe were worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Adobe by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,668 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Adobe by 5.5% during the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 577 shares of the software company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Adobe by 20.8% during the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in Adobe by 12.8% during the second quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 274 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Adobe by 1.2% in the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,628 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI partnership with NVIDIA positions Adobe to accelerate generative-AI content creation and marketing automation, which could expand product moat and revenue upside from Firefly and marketing suites. Adobe (ADBE)-NVIDIA Alliance Targets Next Wave of AI Content Creation
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe is acquiring Semrush for ~$1.9B and linking that deal to its NVIDIA work—this accelerates Adobe’s push into AI-driven marketing, search and analytics, diversifying growth beyond creative tools. Adobe Links Semrush Deal And NVIDIA Alliance To AI Marketing Future
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat consensus on both revenue ($6.40B) and EPS ($6.06); Adobe also has a large $25B buyback program and healthy free cash flow—factors that support valuations and potential per?share upside. Adobe (ADBE) Reports Strong Earnings Despite Leadership Transition Concern
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and momentum coverage highlights Adobe as a momentum/value candidate for some investors given lower price levels and long-term AI opportunities. Here’s Why Adobe Systems (ADBE) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Telestream announced tighter integration with Adobe-centric pipelines and workflow automation—incremental product ecosystem wins that may help enterprise adoption but are not transformational alone. Telestream Unlocks Adobe-Centric Media Pipeline and Streamlined Workflow Automation
• Neutral Sentiment: Marketing promotions (50% Firefly offers) and product growth (Firefly ARR gains referenced in social summaries) support adoption but are short?term demand drivers. Turn images into video and save 50% for 12 months with Adobe Firefly
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent moves — a former Adobe architect joined NeutronX — are notable industry signals but have limited direct impact on Adobe’s near-term financials. NeutronX Appoints Former Adobe Enterprise Architect
• Negative Sentiment: Investor litigation/investigation alert from Scott+Scott targets Adobe’s directors and officers for alleged fiduciary breaches—adds legal/overhang risk and can pressure sentiment if escalated. ADOBE, INC. INVESTOR ALERT: Scott+Scott Investigates Adobe Directors and Officers
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Shantanu Narayen’s announced transition continues to weigh on sentiment and has prompted analyst resets; leadership uncertainty is cited repeatedly as the main near-term driver of share weakness despite solid earnings. Adobe Stock (ADBE) Opinions on Earnings and CEO Transition
• Negative Sentiment: Broader software?sector selling and competitive threats from new browser/AI tools (e.g., Claude and free AI generators) are cited as additional negative pressure on Adobe’s multiples and growth expectations. Adobe (ADBE) Reports Strong Earnings Despite Leadership Transition Concern

Insider Activity at Adobe

In other Adobe news, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.85, for a total transaction of $485,323.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,382,225.75. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Adobe Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $237.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $317.11. Adobe Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.79 and a 52-week high of $422.95. The firm has a market cap of $97.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The software company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.87 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 29.48% and a return on equity of 64.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.08 EPS. Adobe has set its FY 2026 guidance at 23.300-23.500 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 5.800-5.850 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADBE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $350.00 price target on Adobe in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Adobe from $310.00 to $235.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Adobe from $375.00 to $285.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Adobe from $425.00 to $365.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Adobe currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $343.88.

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.