Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 603,572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 198,121 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Salesforce worth $159,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 925 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,347 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,159,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,493,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 9,222 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 16,648 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $187.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.55 and a 200-day moving average of $228.67.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 payout ratio is 21.25%.

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.