Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Acquires New Position in Adobe Inc. $ADBE

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,606 shares of the software company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,563,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Adobe in the 2nd quarter worth $2,029,950,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Adobe by 68.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,939,018 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $750,168,000 after acquiring an additional 791,077 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Adobe by 218.5% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,073,899 shares of the software company’s stock worth $415,434,000 after acquiring an additional 736,682 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Adobe by 16.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,407,162 shares of the software company’s stock worth $1,705,043,000 after purchasing an additional 610,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Adobe by 185.1% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 898,408 shares of the software company’s stock valued at $316,913,000 after purchasing an additional 583,275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.79% of the company’s stock.

Adobe News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Adobe this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adobe reversed its decision to discontinue Adobe Animate and moved the app to maintenance mode after heavy creator backlash — a move that removes a key PR overhang and reduces the risk of customer churn in creative communities. After backlash, Adobe cancels Adobe Animate shutdown and puts app on ‘maintenance mode’
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst action: Piper Sandler moved Adobe to a “hold” rating, which supports the argument that sellside views are stabilizing after the stock’s large decline. This is modestly supportive for near-term sentiment. Zacks / TickerReport coverage of Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Some outlets highlight a bull case and recent session gains (coverage noting intraday upticks), reflecting that selective buyers are viewing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. Adobe Systems (ADBE) Increases Despite Market Slip
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst surveys note Adobe has underperformed the market over the past year but sentiment is “cautiously optimistic” — this keeps expectations mixed and suggests analysts see recovery potential but not an imminent re-rating. Adobe Stock: Analyst Estimates & Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-form takeaways assessing whether the >50% decline since 2024 is a buying opportunity provide frameworks for investors (marketing spend up, AI strategy emphasized), but they are opinion pieces rather than new corporate developments. Adobe (ADBE) Stock: Is This 50% Drop a Buying Opportunity?
• Neutral Sentiment: A legislative note lists Adobe among companies likely to engage with major U.S. sporting events (sponsorship/promotional opportunities). This is peripheral and not an immediate earnings driver. New Bill: Senator Jacky Rosen introduces S. 3676
• Negative Sentiment: Wider software-sector selloff tied to accelerating AI competition and fresh model releases (plus new Anthropic tools) has pressured large software names, amplifying fear of AI-driven disruption and prompting sector rotation out of higher-multiple names like Adobe. Software Stocks Selloff: What’s Behind the Rout?
• Negative Sentiment: Initial reports that Adobe would end Animate sparked creator outrage and likely contributed to short-term selling before the reversal — a reminder that product missteps or communication errors can meaningfully affect sentiment. Adobe Ends Animate, Abandoning Millions Of Artists Amid AI Push
• Negative Sentiment: Headline pieces summarizing why ADBE is trading down reiterate the mix of macro/sector weakness, AI competition fears, and company-specific PR noise that are keeping buyers cautious. Adobe (ADBE) stock trades down, here is why

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Adobe from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Adobe from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Adobe from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Adobe from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Adobe from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $470.00 to $330.00 in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Adobe has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $401.13.

Adobe Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ADBE opened at $268.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Adobe Inc. has a 12-month low of $264.04 and a 12-month high of $465.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $324.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.51.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 10th. The software company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $0.10. Adobe had a return on equity of 61.28% and a net margin of 30.00%.The company had revenue of $6.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Adobe has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 5.850-5.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 23.300-23.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Adobe Inc. will post 16.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Daniel Durn sold 1,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,995 shares in the company, valued at $12,382,225.75. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% 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.