Adobe Inc. $ADBE Stock Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,069 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 8,132 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Adobe were worth $11,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADBE. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Adobe during the 2nd quarter worth $8,437,821,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Adobe in the 2nd quarter worth $1,071,668,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe in the second quarter valued at about $954,468,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe in the second quarter valued at about $750,203,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Adobe in the second quarter valued at about $653,307,000. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Adobe from $379.00 to $373.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Adobe from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Adobe in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Adobe from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Adobe presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adobe

In other Adobe news, CEO Shantanu Narayen sold 74,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.56, for a total transaction of $18,741,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 289,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,757,189.44. This represents a 20.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.33, for a total value of $109,961.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,010,797.92. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 125,416 shares of company stock valued at $31,454,466. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Adobe Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADBE traded down $6.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $263.82. 3,128,994 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,335,550. Adobe Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.12 and a 1 year high of $363.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.54. 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 capitalization of $102.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The software company reported $6.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.05. Adobe had a net margin of 28.05% and a return on equity of 65.65%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.31 EPS. Adobe’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Adobe has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 6.300-6.350 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 24.450-24.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Adobe Inc. will post 20.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Adobe

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe continues to benefit from high margins, substantial free cash flow, a large user base and recurring-revenue growth. Supporters argue that the stock’s relatively low valuation and continued annual recurring revenue buildup create potential for a turnaround. Adobe: Deep Value Amid Continued ARR Buildup
• Positive Sentiment: Recent AI-related partnerships, including an expanded relationship with NVIDIA and a new deal making Adobe the official AI fan-experience partner of BWT Alpine Formula One, reinforce the company’s effort to demonstrate practical uses for its AI tools and expand its brand reach. Adobe and BWT Alpine Formula One Team Partner
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe recently exceeded analysts’ quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while management maintained fiscal 2026 earnings guidance. Those results provide fundamental support even as the share price has lagged broader technology benchmarks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is divided: some analysts see substantial upside if Adobe converts its AI investments into monetized growth, while others remain cautious. Articles comparing Adobe with Salesforce, CrowdStrike and Arista Networks highlight that the stock’s appeal depends on an investor’s preference for valuation and profitability versus faster growth. Adobe Stock Has Been Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: The principal overhang is AI disruption risk. Investors remain concerned that competing tools from companies such as Anthropic and Google could reduce demand for Adobe’s traditional applications or pressure pricing through “app-less” creative workflows. Adobe: Strong Fundamentals, But AI Remains the Key Risk
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s decline despite repeated earnings outperformance signals that investors want clearer evidence of accelerating growth and successful AI monetization before assigning Adobe a higher multiple.

Adobe Company Profile

Adobe Inc is a global software company that develops digital tools for creative professionals, businesses, marketers, and individual users. Its products help customers create, edit, publish, manage, and measure digital content across websites, mobile applications, documents, and other media.

The company’s Creative Cloud portfolio includes applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat. Adobe also offers Document Cloud, which provides tools for creating, editing, sharing, signing, and managing digital documents, and Experience Cloud, a suite of solutions for digital marketing, analytics, commerce, customer journeys, and content management.