Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 603,572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 198,121 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.06% of Salesforce worth $159,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 23,093 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,118,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Poehling Capital Management INC. grew its stake in Salesforce by 415.4% in the fourth quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. now owns 9,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 33,924 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,987,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Northbridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,442,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Salesforce Stock Performance
CRM opened at $180.23 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.80. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $287.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.14.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.54%.
Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment improved as markets softened their view of the existential threat AI poses to traditional software companies, helping Salesforce shares rebound. Why Salesforce (CRM) Stock Is Trading Up Today
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s Agentforce initiative continues to gain traction, with nearly $800 million in ARR and more than 29,000 deals, supporting the bull case that AI can reignite subscription growth. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Lift Subscription Growth?
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expectations are still centered on earnings growth next week, and some coverage argues Salesforce has the ingredients for another earnings beat. Salesforce (CRM) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
- Neutral Sentiment: Several articles framed Salesforce as part of a broader software-sector rebound, with investors rotating back into enterprise software names amid the AI debate. From ServiceNow to Salesforce: why are software stocks rallying today?
- Neutral Sentiment: A new partnership with TTEC Digital could help Salesforce push Agentforce into production environments, but it is still early-stage execution news rather than a near-term financial catalyst. Salesforce TTEC Digital Partnership Puts Agentforce Production Use In Focus
- Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reinstated Salesforce with an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, warning that the company faces an “AI-driven structural reset” that could pressure growth and valuation. Salesforce rated ‘Underperform’ by Bank of America on AI growth concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Citi also cut its target on Salesforce, citing slower deal activity and rising competitive pressure, reinforcing concerns that sales momentum may be cooling. Citi Lowers Target on Salesforce (CRM) Over Slower Deal Activity
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.56.
Read Our Latest Report on Salesforce
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 3.50% 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.
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