Franklin Resources Inc. Has $621.35 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Franklin Resources cut its Salesforce stake by 27% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 2.35 million shares valued at about $621.35 million.
• Salesforce has seen notable institutional interest, with large investors like Norges Bank and Capital World Investors building positions; institutional ownership stands at 80.43%.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also announced a $25 billion share buyback plus a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,345,517 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 869,615 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Salesforce worth $621,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $484,852,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Salesforce by 285.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,568,000 after buying an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $260.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6%

CRM stock opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.25 and a 200-day moving average of $208.35. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The company has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 often a sign that the company's board 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.

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