Willis Investment Counsel Raises Stock Position in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Key Points

• Willis Investment Counsel increased its stake in Adobe by 138.9% in Q4, buying 23,671 shares to hold 40,715 shares worth about $14.25 million.
• Adobe beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $6.06 (vs. $5.87 expected) and revenue of $6.40 billion (vs. $6.28 billion), and issued FY 2026 EPS guidance of 23.30–23.50 and Q2 guidance of 5.80–5.85.
• Analyst coverage is mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $343.88 price target, based on 1 Strong Buy, 10 Buy, 14 Hold and 5 Sell ratings.

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE - Free Report) by 138.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,715 shares of the software company's stock after buying an additional 23,671 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel's holdings in Adobe were worth $14,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Adobe Price Performance

Adobe stock opened at $239.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.52. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $233.15 and a 1 year high of $422.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $259.42 and a 200-day moving average of $309.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The software company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.87 by $0.19. Adobe had a return on equity of 64.48% and a net margin of 29.48%.The business had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.08 EPS. Adobe's quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,646 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.85, for a total value of $485,323.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,382,225.75. The trade was a 3.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on ADBE shares. Weiss Ratings cut Adobe from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Adobe from $450.00 to $440.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $447.00 price objective on Adobe and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Adobe in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Adobe from $400.00 to $290.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Adobe has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $343.88.

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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