FSA Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,084 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted 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 buying an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.18.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents 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.
Salesforce News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce deepens ChatGPT integrations to automate CRM workflows — this expands generative-AI functionality inside Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, which could accelerate adoption and drive higher ARPU for enterprise customers. Salesforce deepens AI integration with ChatGPT for CRM workflows
- Positive Sentiment: New Salesforce–Google Cloud AI workflow integrations broaden partnership reach (including SMB tools), which should help Salesforce embed into Google Cloud customers and compete on analytics/AI features. Partnership breadth is constructive for long-term enterprise wins. Salesforce and Google Cloud unveil AI-powered workflow integrations
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst/commentary pieces flag CRM as a top long-term growth stock — bullish narratives (Zacks, MSN) emphasize strong margin profile, recurring revenue and positioning in the AI transition. That support helps sentiment after recent weakness. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
- Positive Sentiment: Competitive analysis argues Salesforce is better positioned than legacy rivals (Oracle) in the cloud+AI push — a narrative likely to attract investors rotating into software names expected to capture recurring SaaS AI spend. Salesforce vs Oracle: There’s Only One Winner In the Cloud AI Push
- Neutral Sentiment: General stock-screen coverage asks whether CRM is a buy after its pullback — useful for traders and value investors but not game-changing news on its own. Is Trending Stock Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) a Buy Now?
- Neutral Sentiment: Broader articles place Salesforce in the context of where AI economics sit (vs. semiconductors like NVDA) — important framing but indirect for near-term share moves. While NVDA Dominates Headlines, Here’s Where the Real AI Economics Are Hiding
- Negative Sentiment: Industry-wide AI spend is being debated against large tech layoffs and cost reallocation; this macro/tech-cost conversation could pressure multiples and hiring cycles for enterprise buyers. Is Big Tech’s $725B AI splurge being funded by mass layoffs?
- Negative Sentiment: Shares remain well off their 52-week high and analysts note a large YTD decline, keeping downside sensitivity if growth or AI monetization slows. Is Salesforce (CRM) Now An Opportunity After A 27.5% Year To Date Share Price Slide?
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of CRM stock opened at $185.52 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’s fifty day moving average price is $186.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $296.05.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.
Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
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.
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