Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Diversified Trust Co.

Diversified Trust Co. lessened its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,895 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,645 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Growth Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the third quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 40.9% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.9% in the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 961 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $195.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $180.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $202.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.53. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.21.

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.