ARS Investment Partners LLC Has $15.72 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

ARS Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 5,993 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.9% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,017 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after buying an additional 10,633 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after acquiring an additional 61,270 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after acquiring an additional 83,403 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.82.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $173.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $184.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.65. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $292.17. The company has a market capitalization of $142.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.