Comerica Bank Reduces Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in Salesforce by 5.8% in Q4, selling 10,560 shares and now holds 170,446 shares valued at about $45.15 million.
• Salesforce posted a strong quarter (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05; revenue up 12.1%), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, and approved a $25.0 billion share buyback program (up to ~14.1% of shares).
• While several analysts have lowered price targets, the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $279.18, and roughly 80% of Salesforce is held by institutional investors.

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,446 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 10,560 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Salesforce were worth $45,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 159.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 285.4% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,568,000 after buying an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,440 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $178.31 on Monday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $296.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.22 and a 200 day moving average of $221.92. The firm has a market cap of $145.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bull case surfaced summarizing why investors should consider CRM — bullish Substack thesis highlighted valuation and AI upside. Is Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks reports Agentforce has reached ~$800M ARR with 169% growth, signaling tangible AI-driven revenue momentum that could support future upside. Agentforce Adoption Rises: Can It Be Salesforce's Next Growth Engine?
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on partnership and capital return chatter (Google collaboration, $25B buyback commentary) reinforces strategic catalysts and management’s optionality on capital allocation. Salesforce (CRM) Stock: Google Partnership, $25B Buyback, and What Analysts Are Saying
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (ServiceNow) highlight valuation differences and competing AI execution — useful for relative‑value decisions but not company‑specific news. Cheap Salesforce Vs. Expensive ServiceNow: Which Stock Is A Better Buy Today?
• Neutral Sentiment: Montaka’s internal assessment coverage provides investor insight into hedge‑fund views but adds nuance rather than immediate directional pressure. Here’s Montaka’s Internal Assessment on Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Articles warning AI could reduce demand for traditional CRM functions — a thematic risk that has driven some bearish calls and investor caution. Salesforce (CRM) Stock At Significant Risk Of Collapsing Due To AI
• Negative Sentiment: Sector‑wide panic after ServiceNow’s weak guidance pressured enterprise software, triggering steep intraday declines in CRM recently. Salesforce Just Dropped 9% on Sector Panic. Is the Cloud Software King on Sale?
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler trimmed its price target citing rising AI competition in enterprise software — analyst downgrades/cuts can cap near‑term upside. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) PT Reduced as Piper Sandler Flags Rising AI Competition in Enterprise Software

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

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.