Connable Office Inc. Acquires 8,243 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Connable Office Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 88.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,612 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares during the quarter. Connable Office Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 159.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,117 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $181.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.91. The firm has a market cap of $148.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Barclays lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.18.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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