Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management reduced its Salesforce stake by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,333 shares and leaving it with 66,655 shares worth about $17.7 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive: Salesforce has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with an average target price of $274.12, despite some recent caution around AI monetization and the stock’s sharp year-to-date decline.
• Salesforce authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program and recently reported earnings that beat estimates, with EPS of $3.81 on revenue of $11.20 billion, up 12.1% from a year earlier.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,655 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 11,333 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.12.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $179.51 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $278.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $146.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.63 and a 200-day moving average of $211.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.