57,805 Shares in Salesforce Inc. $CRM Bought by Parthenon LLC

Key Points

• Parthenon LLC opened a new position in Salesforce, buying 57,805 shares (~$15.31 million), which represents 1.7% of the fund's portfolio and is its 18th largest holding.
• Salesforce beat quarterly estimates with $3.81 EPS (vs. $3.05) and $11.20B revenue, set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44, and authorized a $25.0 billion share buyback (up to ~14.1% of shares).
• Analysts have trimmed some price targets (e.g., Jefferies to $250, RBC to $210) but consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $280.21, even as the stock is down ~35% YTD amid sector rotation and momentum concerns.

Parthenon LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 57,805 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,313,000. Salesforce comprises 1.7% of Parthenon LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.1% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the third quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 40.9% during the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $164.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $189.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.46. The company has a market capitalization of $152.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong underlying fundamentals: recent coverage highlights Salesforce's trailing‑12‑month revenue (~$41.5B), solid profitability (77.6% gross margin, ~13.9% profit margin), nearly $15B operating cash flow and $7.8 diluted EPS — all arguments that the company’s core business can justify a higher multiple over time. Salesforce Stock Is Dropping Today: What's Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Ecosystem wins / product integrations: Redpanda’s new real‑time, bidirectional connectors to Salesforce position CRM more as a central data hub — a feature that can increase platform stickiness and justify long‑term value capture. Salesforce Connectors From Redpanda Put Focus On CRM Valuation Gap
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity signaling volatility: recent options flow has drawn attention — heightened options interest can presage larger moves (up or down) around earnings, product news or macro catalysts but is not a directional confirmation on its own. Is the Options Market Predicting a Spike in Salesforce Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate / buy/hold view: some analysts note CRM is down sharply YTD (~35%) and argue the pullback plus ongoing AI adoption and improving growth make it a hold at current prices — this frames the decline as a potential buying opportunity for longer‑term investors. Salesforce Plunges 35% YTD: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Sector shock from new AI models: reports about Anthropic’s latest model and broader headlines have sparked a selloff across software stocks, pressuring CRM as investors rotate toward AI infrastructure and hardware beneficiaries. Anthropic's Latest AI Model Sends a Shockwave Through Software Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/strategy commentary: high‑profile commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) indicates a renewed “buy hardware, sell software” rotation, which can keep downward pressure on valuation multiples for large software vendors like Salesforce. Cramer explains the divergence in tech stocks – and why software may continue to lag
• Negative Sentiment: Stock price technical and momentum concerns: coverage noting three‑year lows and a steep YTD decline highlight momentum weakness that can perpetuate selling until clearer positive catalysts emerge. Salesforce stock just crashed to 3-year lows; Here's why
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/product signals: items about alternatives (e.g., Slackbot as a CRM interface) and specialized Salesforce‑based solutions could be read as both ecosystem expansion and potential competitive friction for certain use cases. Slack instead of Salesforce: Slackbot becomes CRM interface

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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