Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 7,204 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.1% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 17 Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the second quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore cut their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $335.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.56.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted Q4 earnings topped expectations — Salesforce reported an adjusted EPS beat and revenue roughly in line with consensus, showing continued margin progress and revenue growth year-over-year. Q4 results & transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward profit targets: Q1 FY2027 EPS guidance of $3.110–$3.130 and FY2027 EPS guidance of $13.110–$13.190 both materially exceed Street consensus — a clear positive signal for future EPS trajectory (company guidance released 2/25/2026).
• Positive Sentiment: Large shareholder-friendly action — Salesforce committed to a sizable buyback program (reported as ~$50 billion), which supports EPS and provides a backstop for the stock. Buyback coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue guidance mixed but broadly in-line: Q1 revenue guidance of $11.0–$11.1B is at/just above consensus, while FY revenue guidance ($45.8–$46.2B) centers near the Street forecast — supports stable top-line growth though not a clear upside catalyst. Revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Operating cash flow strength — cash from operations jumped year-over-year (helping liquidity), even as cash balances and liabilities shifted; useful context for buybacks and capital allocation decisions. Cash flow and balance-sheet details
• Negative Sentiment: After-hours weakness and investor caution — despite the EPS beat, shares slid after hours as participants focused on revenue nuances and the company’s “stable” top‑line growth outlook; some analysts trimmed targets or downgraded, putting downward pressure on the stock. After-hours reaction
• Negative Sentiment: AI disruption narrative and sentiment risk — ongoing market anxiety that generative AI could displace parts of the enterprise software stack continues to weigh on valuation multiples for Salesforce and peers, contributing to volatility. AI concerns coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/analyst dynamics — large insider share sales reported and mixed analyst moves (some price-target cuts despite buy ratings from others) add short-term selling pressure and uncertainty about near-term sentiment. Insider & analyst activity

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $192.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $180.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $226.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.86. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $313.70.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.