Adobe Inc. $ADBE Shares Purchased by Perpetual Ltd

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd increased its Adobe stake by 27.1% in the third quarter, owning 598,293 shares worth approximately $143.6 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 81.79% of Adobe’s outstanding stock.
• Adobe reported quarterly revenue of $6.76 billion and adjusted EPS of $6.13, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 12.9% year over year. The stock opened at $238.14, well below its 12-month high of $363.70.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Adobe has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $283.90 price target, but Wells Fargo downgraded the shares to “Underweight” amid concerns over slowing growth, competition, pricing power and difficulty monetizing AI products.

Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 598,293 shares of the software company's stock after acquiring an additional 127,429 shares during the quarter. Adobe comprises approximately 2.2% of Perpetual Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.15% of Adobe worth $143,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Adobe during the 2nd quarter worth $8,437,821,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Adobe by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,792,275 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,651,066,000 after purchasing an additional 563,772 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Adobe by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,242,464 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,074,810,000 after purchasing an additional 518,362 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,071,668,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Adobe by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,119,025 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,791,607,000 after purchasing an additional 297,337 shares during the last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Adobe Trading Down 1.7%

Adobe stock opened at $238.14 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $257.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $242.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.42. Adobe Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.12 and a 12 month high of $363.70.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The software company reported $6.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.08 by $0.05. Adobe had a return on equity of 65.65% and a net margin of 28.05%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Adobe has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 6.300-6.350 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 24.450-24.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 20.01 EPS for the current year.

More Adobe News

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe expanded its AI partnership with Heathrow Airport, whose platform will support personalized digital experiences for more than 84 million annual passengers across trip planning, check-in and airport visits. The agreement provides a real-world use case for Adobe’s AI agents beyond creative and marketing workflows. What Could Adobe Gain From Taking AI Into 84 Million Traveler Journeys?
• Positive Sentiment: A Bernstein analyst argued that Adobe may be significantly undervalued after its stock declined roughly 30% this year, noting that the company has continued to beat earnings expectations and raise guidance. This provides a bullish counterpoint to the broader downgrade-driven selloff. Adobe Keeps Cratering: One Wall Street Pro’s Thesis Projects 50% Gains
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts see a major shift in enterprise technology spending toward AI software. Salesforce may benefit from deeper customer relationships, while Adobe is viewed as more exposed to disruption, making AI adoption and monetization key issues for investors. These Stocks Could Be the Future Winners and Losers of a Massive Shift in IT Spending
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut Adobe to Underweight from Equal Weight and reduced its price target to $225 from $270. The bank cited deteriorating organic growth, rising competition, declining pricing power, executive instability and difficulty converting AI products into meaningful revenue. Its CIO survey also indicated Adobe may be losing share of corporate AI budgets, while the firm could need to nearly double new recurring revenue to meet its targets. Adobe Stock Falls as Wells Fargo Downgrades Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that developers are creating inexpensive or free AI-based alternatives resembling several Adobe applications heightened fears that generative AI could erode Adobe’s subscription moat and pricing power. Everything We Know About the Free Adobe Clones Built With AI

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In other Adobe news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 416 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.33, for a total value of $109,961.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,010,797.92. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 74,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.56, for a total transaction of $18,741,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 289,224 shares in the company, valued at $72,757,189.44. This trade represents a 20.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,416 shares of company stock valued at $31,454,466. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ADBE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $379.00 to $373.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Adobe from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Adobe from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Adobe from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Adobe from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $283.90.

Adobe Company Profile

Adobe Inc NASDAQ: ADBE is a global software company that develops tools for creating, managing, delivering and analyzing digital content. Its products serve creative professionals, marketers, enterprises, students and individual consumers across a broad range of industries and geographies.

Adobe's Creative Cloud portfolio includes applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign and Adobe Express for graphic design, photography, video, illustration and digital content creation.

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