Income Insurance Ltd Purchases Shares of 2,870 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Income Insurance Ltd bought a new stake in Salesforce, acquiring 2,870 shares valued at about $760,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Salesforce’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $3.81 versus the $3.05 estimate and revenue of $11.20 billion, up 12.1% year over year.
• The company also boosted shareholder returns by raising its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share and authorizing a $25 billion share repurchase plan, signaling confidence in its valuation.

Income Insurance Ltd purchased a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,870 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $760,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,474 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JSF Financial LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $181.67 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $186.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $296.05. The company has a market capitalization of $148.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business 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. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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