Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Acquires 30,906 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management increased its Salesforce stake by 300% in the fourth quarter, buying 30,906 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 41,209 shares worth about $10.9 million.
• Insider buying was also notable, with directors Laura Alber and David Blair Kirk each purchasing roughly 2,570 shares at about $194.60 per share, signaling confidence in the company.
• Salesforce’s fundamentals and outlook remain mixed: the company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates and authorized a $25 billion buyback, but analysts are split, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and some firms still issuing cautious calls.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 300.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,209 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,906 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $11,732,966,000 after buying an additional 159,739 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after buying an additional 1,729,440 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Salesforce by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,155,512 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,695,856,000 after buying an additional 754,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.12.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE CRM opened at $180.32 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $182.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $280.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. 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 year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 22.54%.

Salesforce News Summary

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)

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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