Monarch Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 94.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,704 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Salesforce to buy from neutral and set a $200 price target, signaling roughly 32% upside and citing valuation appeal plus AI-related gains. Monness upgrades Salesforce stock on valuation, AI gains; sees 31% upside
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated confidence in Salesforce following its $3.6 billion acquisition of Fin, a move that could strengthen the company’s AI/customer-agent product lineup. Salesforce (CRM) Earns Vote of Confidence from Truist after $3.6 Billion Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Salesforce as a long-term growth name and an AI beneficiary, with bullish coverage around its Agentforce strategy and generative AI positioning. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparison pieces versus Oracle and broad stock-picking articles suggest investors are weighing Salesforce’s slower recent performance against its AI growth narrative rather than reacting to a single new catalyst. Oracle vs. Salesforce: Which Tech Giant Is The Better Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: A recent commentary noted that Salesforce stock has fallen sharply this year, reflecting investor concern about execution, growth expectations, and the company’s discounted valuation versus past highs. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Plunges 41% This Year — A Buying Opportunity Emerges?

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $151.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $124.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $177.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.80 and a 52 week high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.61.

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.