Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 3,808,568 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Franklin Resources cut its stake in Salesforce by 54.2%, selling 3,808,568 shares and retaining 3,215,132 shares valued at about $762 million.
• Salesforce beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $3.81 (vs. $3.05) and $11.20 billion in revenue, and set FY2027 guidance of $13.110–$13.190 in EPS.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares (reducing her ownership ~34.8%) while Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares (increasing his ownership ~22.2%).

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 54.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,215,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,808,568 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.34% of Salesforce worth $761,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Country Trust Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 658.8% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.06.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $194.78 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $214.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.09. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $296.05. The company has a market cap of $179.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 21.25%.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce expanded its Agentforce AI platform with new partnerships and sector moves (including a Formula 1 fan companion agent) that show progress commercializing AI across verticals. Salesforce Expands Agentforce With Formula 1 Partnership And Finance Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Contact Center to integrate AI, voice and CRM — a product move that targets high-value contact-center spend and could accelerate revenue per customer if adoption scales. Salesforce Launches Agentforce Contact Center to Unify AI, Voice and CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party ecosystem activity: Pimly launched a Product Intelligence solution on Salesforce’s AgentExchange, which could increase platform stickiness and extend use cases for front-office AI workflows. Pimly Product Intelligence Launch May Deepen Salesforce Platform Usage And Value
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive/market commentary: HubSpot (HUBS) reported strong subscription growth — a reminder of CRM competition that can influence investor sentiment around SaaS growth comps. HUBS Rides on Solid Subscriber Revenue Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces argue Salesforce is undervalued after recent weakness, framing current weakness as a buying opportunity if management executes on AI monetization. Salesforce: The SaaSpocalypse Created A Rare Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-form analysis and sector context (e.g., Forbes piece on CRM’s path) highlight that sentiment about AI and guidance, not just fundamentals, is driving recent volatility. CRM Stock: Path To $260
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~14.8% in February to ~21.9M shares (about 2.4% of shares), signaling increased bearish positioning that can amplify near-term downside pressure. (SEC/market short-interest report)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target trims: Northland cut its target to $229 (market-perform) and DA Davidson cut its target to $200 while keeping Neutral — fresh PT reductions that reinforce cautious near-term expectations. Northland Cuts Price Target DA Davidson Lowers PT on Salesforce

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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