Ethic Inc. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Salesforce stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 106,675 shares worth about $28.3 million.
• Several Salesforce directors recently bought shares, while institutional investors now hold 80.43% of the company and insider ownership stands at 3.00%.
• Salesforce continues to lean into AI growth with Agentforce-related launches and a new FY27 reporting structure, even as analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $279.18.

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,675 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 4,296 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $28,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased 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 owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.18.

Salesforce News Roundup

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.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $181.67 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $186.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $296.05. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. 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, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Salesforce 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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