J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• J.W. Cole Advisors cut its Salesforce stake by 26% in Q4, selling 5,847 shares and ending with 16,672 shares valued at about $4.4 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Salesforce despite several price-target cuts, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $257.97.
• Salesforce recently reported stronger-than-expected results, posting $3.88 EPS on $11.13 billion in revenue, while also authorizing a $25 billion share repurchase and paying a quarterly dividend.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,672 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,847 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Mathes Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% in the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.97.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a landmark partnership with FIFA for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup, which could showcase its AI-driven Agentforce 360 platform to a massive global audience and potentially drive future enterprise demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating and a $290 price target on Salesforce, while modeling earnings above consensus for FY2027, signaling continued analyst confidence in the company’s profit growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Salesforce’s strong momentum, helped by its AI strategy, Agentforce rollout, recurring revenue base, and expanding free cash flow, which may keep long-term investors interested. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s presentation at the Evercore Global TMT Conference and valuation-focused coverage suggest investors are still reassessing how much of the AI and Agentforce optimism is already priced in. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bridgewater Associates reportedly sold Salesforce, which can pressure sentiment in the near term, although the article argues that institutional selling may create a better entry point for patient investors. Article Title

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $185.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $276.80. The business's 50 day moving average is $181.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Salesforce

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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