Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 12,642 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its Salesforce stake by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,642 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 51,715 shares worth about $13.7 million.
• Several insiders bought shares, including directors David Blair Kirk and Laura Alber, signaling confidence in the company; together, the two purchases totaled just over $1 million.
• Salesforce recently beat quarterly earnings expectations and authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $274.12.

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,715 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,642 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp lowered their price target 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, Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.12.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $179.51 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $278.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies expects an in-line Q1 and sees second-half growth as the key catalyst, pointing to partner survey data showing many customers finished the quarter on plan or above it, along with projected revenue growth of 12.5% and current remaining performance obligations growth of 14%. Salesforce earnings preview: Jefferies eyes in-line Q1, second-half growth key
• Positive Sentiment: Some bullish commentary argues Salesforce is undervalued and highlights strong margins, free cash flow, and accelerating AI monetization through Agentforce, which could support sentiment if management shows progress on earnings day. Salesforce: The Most Undervalued Stock In The Software Space
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG reaffirmed its buy rating and set a $255 price target, signaling Wall Street still sees meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on BTIG rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews frame upcoming earnings as a key test for Salesforce’s AI narrative, with investors waiting to see whether Agentforce can meaningfully improve bookings and subscription growth. Agentforce to Boost Salesforce's Subscription Revenue Growth in Q1
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded Salesforce to Underperform, warning that AI may become a bigger risk for the company than a growth engine if monetization lags. ServiceNow Vs Salesforce: BofA Reveals Why AI Is 'Growth Engine' For One And 'Major Risk' For The Other
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Salesforce shares have fallen sharply year to date, reflecting investor concern that the company has to deliver a stronger earnings and AI update to reverse the trend. Salesforce (CRM) Earnings Preview: Q1 Results Expected Wednesday Amid 32% YTD Decline

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.

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.