First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 12,597 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its Salesforce stake by 355% in the first quarter, buying 12,597 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 16,145 shares worth about $3.0 million.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains mixed on the stock: analysts currently rate Salesforce Moderate Buy overall, with a consensus price target of $249.51, though several firms recently lowered targets or downgraded the shares.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 355.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,145 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 12,597 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $163.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $133.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $170.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.64. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $274.00. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Phillip Securities downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Salesforce from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see Salesforce as undervalued versus its growth prospects, citing its AI pivot, stronger earnings revisions, and relatively attractive valuation compared with peers. Salesforce vs. Adobe: Which Enterprise Software Stock Has the Edge?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also getting attention for AI-related opportunities, including broader adoption of its Missionforce platform by the U.S. Air Force for fleet management, which supports the company’s enterprise and government cloud story. Salesforce (CRM) Lands Broad Air Force Role Managing A Global Military Vehicle Fleet
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum appears to be stabilizing across beaten-down software names, but investor sentiment remains cautious as AI fears continue to cloud the sector’s growth outlook. CRM, WDAY, TEAM Bounce Back: Can Momentum Continue?
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate reports noted Salesforce remains widely watched by investors, with some articles arguing the stock still has upside from current levels, though conviction is mixed. Salesforce Cratered 33% in 2026. One Analyst Sees It Exploding Nearly 200%
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Morgan Stanley cut its rating and price target are the most direct reason for weakness, as the bank sees only balanced risk/reward without a meaningful growth catalyst. Morgan Stanley Slashes Salesforce Price Target By 35%
• Negative Sentiment: More bearish commentary highlighted that AI-enabled rivals and low-cost CRM alternatives could pressure Salesforce’s pricing power and long-term growth. Curative CEO says company ditched a $600k-a-year Salesforce contract after vibecoding a CRM in 2 months
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh competition headlines around AI sales tools, plus speculation about a new Slack rival from Jack Dorsey, add to concerns that Salesforce’s ecosystem could face more competitive pressure. Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey is Making a New Slack — Should Salesforce Investors Be Worried?

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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