Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 15,990 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group boosted its Salesforce stake by 159.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 15,990 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 26,032 shares valued at about $6.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or established positions in Salesforce, and institutions now own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive: Salesforce has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $274.12, while the stock recently traded around $180.32 after strong quarterly results and a new $25 billion share repurchase authorization.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 159.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,032 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,990 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Salesforce by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 203,769 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $54,249,000 after acquiring an additional 52,277 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 212,311 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $56,243,000 after acquiring an additional 32,676 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 51,300.0% during the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 514 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. Teramo Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $375,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.12.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1%

CRM stock opened at $180.32 on Tuesday. 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 $280.74. The stock has a market cap of $147.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50-day moving average is $181.89 and its 200 day moving average is $212.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

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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