Canoe Financial LP Buys Shares of 32,500 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Canoe Financial LP opened a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter, buying 32,500 shares valued at about $6.1 million.
• Salesforce continues to draw attention from institutional investors, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 80.43% of the company’s stock.
• Despite recent stock weakness, the company has support from analysts and AI-related catalysts: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating with a $240 target, while Salesforce’s Agentforce AI efforts and recent earnings beat help bolster the long-term outlook.

Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 32,500 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,067,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Formidable Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 2.7% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $260,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $228,000. Skylands Capital LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $187,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,681 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating and a $240 price target on Salesforce, citing AI momentum and growth tied to Agentforce, which reinforces the bullish long-term case for the stock. TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating on Salesforce (CRM) as AI Momentum and Agentforce Drive Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of Salesforce’s Agentforce and broader AI strategy suggests the company is still seen as a serious player in enterprise AI, which may help offset fears that legacy software growth is slowing. Salesforce Agentforce: A Comprehensive Enterprise Cheat Sheet and Review
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces argue Salesforce has been overly sold off and may be undervalued after its post-earnings decline, but these are more valuation arguments than fresh catalysts. Salesforce: Taking Advantage Of The Market's Misunderstanding Of Enterprise Software
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter to expand dynamic pricing tools adds to its AI CRM platform, but the immediate stock impact looks limited so far. Salesforce expands AI CRM with acquisition of m3ter for dynamic pricing
• Negative Sentiment: One article notes Salesforce is still down sharply since its last earnings report, reminding investors that sentiment remains fragile despite the recent rebound. Salesforce (CRM) Down 14.8% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Another report says Salesforce is trying to defend its AI position with new tools for RIAs, but experts are raising concerns about cost, implementation, and benefits, which could limit enthusiasm. Salesforce tries to catch up on AI -- and halt precipitous stock slide -- with launch of 'Agentic Advisor' for RIAs

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $158.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $129.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.79. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $276.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. 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 four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.61.

Salesforce Company 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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