Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Stake in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in Adobe by 13.3% in Q4, selling 11,754 shares to hold 76,579 shares valued at about $26.8 million.
• Adobe authorized a $25 billion share buyback (≈24.9% of shares) and reported Q1 results that beat estimates — revenue $6.40B and EPS $6.06 — while setting FY‑2026 EPS guidance of 23.30–23.50.
• CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 75,000 shares (~$18.3M) and insiders sold about 77,091 shares (~$18.8M) over three months, even as several analysts cut price targets (Goldman to $220) and the MarketBeat consensus sits at a "Hold".

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,579 shares of the software company's stock after selling 11,754 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Adobe were worth $26,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new position in Adobe in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Adobe in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its position in Adobe by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 81 shares of the software company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ADBE. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Adobe from $290.00 to $220.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Adobe from $420.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Adobe from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down from $315.00) on shares of Adobe in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Adobe from $310.00 to $235.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $338.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 755 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.25, for a total value of $185,918.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,046.25. This trade represents a 17.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 75,000 shares of Adobe stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 359,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,091 shares of company stock worth $18,782,773. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Adobe News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and confident guidance: Adobe reported Q1 results and guidance that topped expectations, reinforcing near-term revenue and margin visibility — a key catalyst supporting the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: $25 billion buyback: The Board authorized a $25B repurchase program (~24.9% of shares outstanding), which supports EPS, reduces float and signals management confidence — a material capital-return tailwind. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI/product momentum: Adobe is pushing agentic and creative AI (Firefly public launch, Summit announcements and third‑party integrations like Anthropic/Claude), which expands stickiness for Creative Cloud and enterprise CX offerings. These product moves support longer‑term growth expectations. Read More. and Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate and YTD weakness: Commentary asks whether the ~26% YTD decline creates a buying opportunity or reflects genuine execution/valuation concerns — useful for longer‑term investors assessing risk/reward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/peer context: Comparative analysis versus peers (e.g., Salesforce) highlights steady revenue but differences in margin/scale — relevant for relative valuation and sector allocation but not an immediate stock mover. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options/trader interest: Elevated option strategies and trading writeups are driving short‑term flows and volatility but don’t alter fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 75,000 shares (~$18.3M disclosed), which can unsettle some investors even if the sale is personal or pre‑planned. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/litigation risk: An investor lawsuit alleges copyright issues around AI training data — potential reputational, regulatory and litigation exposure that could pressure sentiment if it escalates. Read More.

Adobe Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Adobe stock opened at $250.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $250.36 and a 200-day moving average of $297.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $101.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. Adobe Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.13 and a 1-year high of $422.95.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The software company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.87 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Adobe had a return on equity of 64.48% and a net margin of 29.48%.The company's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.08 earnings per share. Adobe has set its FY 2026 guidance at 23.300-23.500 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 5.800-5.850 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software company to repurchase up to 24.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Adobe Company 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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