First National Trust Co lessened its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,684 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,936 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 554,989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $147,022,000 after acquiring an additional 10,793 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 64,319 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $17,039,000 after acquiring an additional 10,830 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 54,526 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,092 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $1,113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
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 bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly 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, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 22.54%.
More Salesforce News
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with Cint to deliver next-generation AI-powered support through Slack, reinforcing the company’s push into agentic enterprise workflows and AI-driven automation. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
- Positive Sentiment: Several analyst- and media-driven pieces highlighted Salesforce as an attractive AI and software value play, with commentary pointing to strong upside potential and expectations that Q1 results may benefit from continued digital transformation and generative AI adoption. Salesforce Likely to Beat Q1 Earnings Estimates: Time to Buy the Stock?
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price-target articles continue to suggest meaningful upside for CRM, with analysts’ average target implying a large gain from current levels and some firms still keeping bullish ratings. Does Salesforce (CRM) Have the Potential to Rally 53.21% as Wall Street Analysts Expect?
- Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce granted 64,296 RSUs to 27 employees tied to the Cimulate acquisition; this is routine retention-related equity compensation and is not likely to materially move the stock on its own. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards to Cimulate Under Its Inducement Equity Incentive Plan
- Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on Salesforce’s upcoming earnings release and expected post-earnings volatility, which adds uncertainty but no clear directional catalyst yet. Here’s How Much Traders Expect Salesforce Stock Could Move After Earnings
- Negative Sentiment: UBS flagged a mixed enterprise software spending backdrop and said it sees limited signs of near-term acceleration in bookings, which may be weighing on sentiment into earnings. Salesforce faces tough enterprise software backdrop heading into earnings, says UBS
- Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated an Underperform rating with a $160 target, signaling that some analysts remain cautious on the stock despite Salesforce’s strong market position. BofA Maintains Underperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)
Analysts Set New Price Targets
CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.12.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce
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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