Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 14,636 Shares of Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Adobe stake by 2.7%, selling 14,636 shares in Q4 and ending the period with 536,151 shares valued at about $187.65 million.
• Adobe authorized a $25 billion share buyback (up to 24.9% of outstanding shares) and is pursuing growth moves like the Semrush acquisition and AI partnerships, which management views as catalysts for shareholder returns and product expansion.
• Adobe beat recent quarterly estimates (EPS $6.06 vs. $5.87; revenue $6.40B, +12% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of $23.30–$23.50 EPS, but analyst sentiment is mixed with an average "Hold" rating and a $338.15 price target.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,151 shares of the software company's stock after selling 14,636 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Adobe worth $187,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Adobe by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,369,395 shares of the software company's stock valued at $14,593,054,000 after purchasing an additional 344,816 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Adobe by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,632,009 shares of the software company's stock valued at $7,277,941,000 after purchasing an additional 352,448 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Adobe by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,617,145 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,981,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952,994 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Adobe by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,888,283 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,711,583,000 after purchasing an additional 742,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Adobe by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,821,688 shares of the software company's stock valued at $1,700,850,000 after purchasing an additional 414,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.79% of the company's stock.

Adobe News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe announced a $25 billion share buyback; investors view this as management signaling the shares are undervalued, improving EPS and returning cash to shareholders — a clear catalyst supporting the rally. Adobe's $25 Billion Buyback Sends a Clear Signal. Yet Shares Remain Dirt Cheap.
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe finalized the acquisition of Semrush, bolstering its agentic AI and brand-visibility capabilities (SEO, competitive intelligence) that can drive higher-margin services and cross-sell into marketing/business customers. Adobe (ADBE) Finalizes Acquisition of Semrush Holdings to Power Agentic AI Brand Visibility
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe is partnering with Dick’s Sporting Goods to deploy AI “coaches,” showing commercial adoption of Adobe’s AI tools outside core creative suites — a signal of product-market traction and new enterprise use cases. Dick's Partners With Adobe for AI Coaches
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage (Zacks, Yahoo) lists ADBE as a “trending” stock; this can boost retail interest and volume but is not a fundamental shift. Adobe Inc. (ADBE) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Legislative mention (H.R.8499) references Adobe as a potential software provider for campus training/resources; this is peripheral and unlikely to move fundamentals materially. New Bill: Representative Monica De La Cruz introduces H.R. 8499: Saving Lives on Campuses Act of 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders sold roughly US$19M of ADBE shares over the past year; while common for executives to diversify, such sales can create short-term negative sentiment or be interpreted as reduced insider conviction. Adobe Insiders Sold US$19m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Adobe Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADBE opened at $255.62 on Wednesday. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.13 and a 1 year high of $422.95. 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 firm has a market cap of $103.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $250.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.10.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The software company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.87 by $0.19. Adobe had a net margin of 29.48% and a return on equity of 64.48%. The firm had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.08 EPS. The business's revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Adobe Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software company to purchase up to 24.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADBE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Adobe from $330.00 to $280.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Adobe from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Adobe from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Adobe from $310.00 to $235.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Adobe from $375.00 to $285.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $338.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.25, for a total value of $185,918.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $867,046.25. The trade was a 17.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 $10,623,440.66. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,091 shares of company stock valued at $18,782,773. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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