Assetmark Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. trimmed its Salesforce stake by 13.9%, selling 21,780 shares and finishing the quarter with 135,082 shares worth $35.784 million.
• Salesforce's board authorized a $25 billion share buyback (about 14.1% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share from $0.42 (≈1.0% yield).
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations with $3.81 EPS vs. $3.05 expected and $11.20 billion revenue, and issued FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 (Q1 2027: 3.110–3.130).

Assetmark Inc. lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,082 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 21,780 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $35,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 961 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Insider Activity

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

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9%

CRM stock opened at $171.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $296.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $188.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.20. The stock has a market cap of $158.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business 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. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 22.54%.

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

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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