Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Has $247,000 Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors cut its stake in Salesforce by 97.3% in Q3, selling 37,016 shares and leaving a holding of 1,044 shares worth about $247,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Salesforce reported an earnings beat and record revenue and is supporting the stock via a $50 billion buyback and a raised quarterly dividend to $0.44, factors driving improved investor sentiment.
• Analysts are generally bullish (consensus rating "Moderate Buy" with a $283.14 target) but risks remain from potential AI disruption; the stock trades near $202 with a market cap around $186.5 billion.

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,044 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 37,016 shares during the quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $21,228,624,000 after buying an additional 748,772 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,452,998,000 after acquiring an additional 776,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,669,224,000 after acquiring an additional 114,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $2,826,049,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and market reaction — Salesforce reported an earnings beat and record revenue, and the stock has rebounded from recent lows as investors appear to be looking past worst‑case AI fears. This is the main driver of improving sentiment. Salesforce: A Week After Earnings, the Market Has Spoken
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback and cash flow strength — Analysts highlight a meaningful free cash flow beat and Salesforce’s announcement of a massive $50B buyback, which can materially support share price and EPS over time. Salesforce: AI Disruption Fears Create Mispricing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish price targets — Multiple firms have reiterated or raised ratings (e.g., Phillip Securities maintained a Buy with a $253 target), helping lift investor confidence. Upgrades/price‑target moves are directly supportive of the rally. Phillip Securities Maintains a Buy on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum and partnerships — New AI initiatives (Agentforce) and a Formula 1 fan‑agent rollout show tangible go‑to‑market AI use cases that support long‑term monetization of AI features. Salesforce Inc. (CRM) Leverages AI to Transform Fan and Customer Engagement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry writeups highlight momentum and valuation — Several outlets (Zacks) list Salesforce among software names positioned to benefit from a sector recovery; these articles boost visibility but provide less immediate price impact than earnings or buybacks. The Software Recovery Already Started: 5 Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Geographic expansion — Reports noting the Philippines as a fast‑growing market signal incremental revenue opportunities but are less likely to move the stock near term. Philippines fastest-growing market for Salesforce in Southeast Asia
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing AI disruption and valuation concerns — Despite improving signals, investors remain wary that AI could compress demand or enable lower‑cost competitors; the stock still reflects a material YTD and 1‑year decline, keeping downside risk present. Is Salesforce (CRM) Pricing Reflect Its Cash Flow Outlook After Recent Share Price Weakness

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $202.04 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $217.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.86. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $296.05. The company has a market cap of $186.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.14.

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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