Heritage Investors Management Corp Acquires 4,346 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Heritage Investors Management Corp increased its Salesforce stake by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,346 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 191,430 shares worth about $50.7 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.81 beating estimates and revenue of $11.20 billion slightly above expectations, while also issuing upbeat FY2027 and Q1 2027 guidance.
• The company’s board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase plan, and Salesforce also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share, signaling confidence in the business.

Heritage Investors Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 191,430 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,346 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 1.5% of Heritage Investors Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $50,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $176.35 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $286.35. The company has a market cap of $144.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 22.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating on Salesforce and kept a $255 price target, saying it expects a “seasonally slow but steady” start ahead of earnings. Deutsche Bank Stays Positive on Salesforce (CRM), Citi Lowers PT
• Positive Sentiment: Cint expanded its relationship with Salesforce to deliver next-generation AI-powered support, reinforcing demand for Salesforce’s Agentforce and Slack-based enterprise AI tools. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Salesforce as a beneficiary of ongoing investor interest in AI and big data, and noted that the company’s upcoming earnings report is expected to show growth and could support another beat. Wall Street's Insights Into Key Metrics Ahead of Salesforce (CRM) Q1 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary around CRM remains mixed overall, with some broker notes still constructive while valuation-focused pieces question how much growth and AI moat are already priced in.
• Negative Sentiment: Citi reportedly lowered its price target on Salesforce due to slower deal activity and rising competitive pressure, adding to investor caution. Citi Lowers Target on Salesforce (CRM) Over Slower Deal Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reinstated an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, arguing Salesforce faces an “AI-driven structural reset,” which weighed on sentiment. Salesforce rated ‘Underperform’ by Bank of America on AI growth concerns

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.12.

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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