Tran Capital Management L.P. Has $19.44 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Tran Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,388 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,288 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 2.3% of Tran Capital Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $187.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05. The company has a market capitalization of $172.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. 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 (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus 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.