Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Lowers Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Kestra Private Wealth reduced its Salesforce stake by 7.6%, selling 5,747 shares and ending the quarter with 69,761 shares valued at about $18.48 million.
• Salesforce beat quarterly estimates (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05; revenue $11.2B, +12.1% YoY), provided FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.11–13.19, and its board authorized a $25 billion buyback while raising the quarterly dividend to $0.44.
• Two directors (David Blair Kirk and Laura Alber) bought roughly 2,570 shares each at about $194.60, increasing their holdings by ~23% and ~37%, respectively, signaling insider confidence.

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,761 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,747 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $178.31 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $187.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's payout ratio is 22.54%.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bull case surfaced summarizing why investors should consider CRM — bullish Substack thesis highlighted valuation and AI upside. Is Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks reports Agentforce has reached ~$800M ARR with 169% growth, signaling tangible AI-driven revenue momentum that could support future upside. Agentforce Adoption Rises: Can It Be Salesforce's Next Growth Engine?
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on partnership and capital return chatter (Google collaboration, $25B buyback commentary) reinforces strategic catalysts and management’s optionality on capital allocation. Salesforce (CRM) Stock: Google Partnership, $25B Buyback, and What Analysts Are Saying
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (ServiceNow) highlight valuation differences and competing AI execution — useful for relative‑value decisions but not company‑specific news. Cheap Salesforce Vs. Expensive ServiceNow: Which Stock Is A Better Buy Today?
• Neutral Sentiment: Montaka’s internal assessment coverage provides investor insight into hedge‑fund views but adds nuance rather than immediate directional pressure. Here’s Montaka’s Internal Assessment on Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Articles warning AI could reduce demand for traditional CRM functions — a thematic risk that has driven some bearish calls and investor caution. Salesforce (CRM) Stock At Significant Risk Of Collapsing Due To AI
• Negative Sentiment: Sector‑wide panic after ServiceNow’s weak guidance pressured enterprise software, triggering steep intraday declines in CRM recently. Salesforce Just Dropped 9% on Sector Panic. Is the Cloud Software King on Sale?
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler trimmed its price target citing rising AI competition in enterprise software — analyst downgrades/cuts can cap near‑term upside. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) PT Reduced as Piper Sandler Flags Rising AI Competition in Enterprise Software

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.