Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Holdings Decreased by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Forbes J M & Co. LLP reduced its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 85.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,608 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 32,162 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $21,228,624,000 after acquiring an additional 748,772 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,732,966,000 after purchasing an additional 159,739 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 9.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,440 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 159.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Salesforce by 11.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,155,512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,695,856,000 after purchasing an additional 754,116 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $185.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $193.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. 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, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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 $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Arete Research raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.21.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.