Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC opened a new position in Salesforce during Q1, buying 8,544 shares valued at about $1.6 million.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter, with EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
• The company also authorized a $25 billion share buyback and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, while analysts currently hold a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $254.42.

Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,544 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,595,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in 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 period. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 3,152 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 4,239 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $165.94 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $173.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.31. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $276.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Susquehanna assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "market outperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure lowered their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.42.

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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