Empowered Funds LLC Buys Shares of 129,869 Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC initiated a major Adobe position, buying 129,869 shares valued at approximately $26.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 81.79% of Adobe’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Adobe has a consensus “Hold” rating, with 21 Holds, seven Buys and five Sells; several firms recently lowered their price targets, while the average target stands at $270.96.
• Adobe exceeded quarterly expectations with $5.96 in EPS and $6.62 billion in revenue, up 12.7% year over year. Its AI initiatives—including Firefly, Acrobat AI and enterprise tools—have reportedly driven AI-related annual recurring revenue above $500 million.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 129,869 shares of the software company's stock, valued at approximately $26,626,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,437,821,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,275,165,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,071,668,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Adobe in the second quarter valued at approximately $954,468,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Adobe in the second quarter worth approximately $750,203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company's stock.

More Adobe News

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe benefited from a broader enterprise-software rally after Salesforce reported better-than-expected results, raised its outlook and announced an Anthropic partnership. The read-through eased concerns about AI disruption and improved sentiment toward Adobe’s AI strategy. Why Is Adobe Stock Surging on Thursday?
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe’s AI-first annual recurring revenue reportedly more than tripled to above $500 million, supported by Firefly, Acrobat AI and enterprise tools. The growth suggests AI is adding subscription and usage revenue rather than only threatening Adobe’s core products. AI Monetization Boosts ADBE's Growth Prospects Against MSFT & CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe expanded its partnership with Stagwell to combine data intelligence, creative transformation and AI capabilities in enterprise marketing. The arrangement could help Adobe win and retain larger business customers. Stagwell Expands Strategic Partnership with Adobe
• Positive Sentiment: Photoshop is adding an optional AI Assisted Editor that enables prompt-based image editing, reinforcing Adobe’s effort to make generative AI practical within its flagship applications. Adobe Photoshop adds AI Assisted Editor
• Neutral Sentiment: Adobe’s incubator is showcasing projects focused on full-service AI, while new education initiatives will provide free Photoshop, Firefly and Express access to millions of students and teachers. These efforts may expand future adoption, but the near-term revenue impact is unclear. Adobe Incubator Projects
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier concerns that cautious Intuit guidance could signal broader AI disruption had pressured Adobe and other software stocks. However, Salesforce’s results appear to have reduced those immediate sector concerns. Intuit AI Disruption Concerns

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ADBE shares. Citizens Jmp restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $365.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Adobe from $235.00 to $195.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Adobe from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Adobe from $285.00 to $230.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $270.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Adobe news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 416 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,010,797.92. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David A. Ricks acquired 10,000 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.51 per share, for a total transaction of $1,945,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 17,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,434,074.05. This represents a 130.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Adobe Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:ADBE opened at $289.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.40. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.12 and a 1 year high of $370.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm's 50-day moving average is $238.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.82.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 11th. The software company reported $5.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.82 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. Adobe had a net margin of 28.69% and a return on equity of 65.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 19.81 EPS for the current year.

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.

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