AK Global Asset Management LLC Invests $971,000 in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• AK Global Asset Management opened a new position in Salesforce, acquiring 3,665 shares valued at approximately $971,000, representing 0.8% of its portfolio and the firm's 21st largest holding.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 consensus; revenue $11.20B vs. $11.18B), set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, authorized a $25 billion share repurchase (about 14.1% of shares) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44.
• Company insiders (Directors Laura Alber and David Blair Kirk) recently bought roughly 2,570 shares each at about $194.6, institutional investors own about 80.43% of the stock, and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $280.21 price target.

AK Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,665 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $971,000. Salesforce accounts for 0.8% of AK Global Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 12,017 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 98.3% during the third 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 grew its position in Salesforce by 2.3% during the third 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 during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Salesforce by 15.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $113,420,000 after buying an additional 61,270 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Salesforce by 42.2% during the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $66,610,000 after buying an additional 83,403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research 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.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $183.00 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $192.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $168.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. 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 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 21.25%.

Salesforce 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.

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