Bailard Inc. Sells 6,460 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. reduced its Salesforce stake by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,460 shares and ending with 14,926 shares valued at about $3.95 million.
• Salesforce shares were down 3.5% to $171.28, leaving the stock well below its 52-week high of $296.05 and also under both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company reported strong recent results, including Q4 EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 expected and revenue of $11.20 billion, and it also authorized a $25 billion share buyback while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,926 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 6,460 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 285.7% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $171.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $296.05. The firm's 50-day moving average is $185.67 and its 200-day moving average is $217.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm 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. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were 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 was Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's payout ratio is 22.54%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is generating substantial free cash flow, with fiscal 2026 free cash flow of about $14.4 billion supporting shareholder returns and continued investment in AI products like Agentforce and Data 360. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles point to Salesforce trading at a discounted valuation after a sharp year-to-date slide, which may attract value-focused investors if growth from Agentforce and Data Cloud continues to improve recurring revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo reiterated a Hold rating on Salesforce, suggesting a cautious but not outright negative stance from analysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup lowered its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200 while keeping a Neutral rating, indicating some valuation caution but still implying modest upside from current levels. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has been under pressure recently, with the stock lagging the broader market and falling sharply from recent highs, which is weighing on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: New research suggesting the Salesforce delivery lifecycle is “broken” could raise concerns about implementation complexity and execution risks for enterprise customers and partners. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $188.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.82.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.