Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 536,151 shares of the software company’s stock after selling 14,636 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Adobe were worth $187,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADBE. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Adobe during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Adobe during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Adobe during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP purchased a new stake in Adobe during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Adobe by 72.3% during 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 last quarter. 81.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Adobe Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of ADBE opened at $255.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $250.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.10. Adobe Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.13 and a twelve month high of $422.95. The stock has a market cap of $103.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last announced its quarterly 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. Adobe had a return on equity of 64.48% and a net margin of 29.48%.The firm had revenue of $6.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Adobe Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Adobe declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 24.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ADBE shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $375.00 to $285.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Adobe in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. William Blair downgraded shares of Adobe from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Adobe in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $338.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jillian Forusz sold 755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $867,046.25. This 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 42,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,440.66. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 77,091 shares of company stock worth $18,782,773 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.