Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Keudell Morrison Wealth Management opened a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter, buying 6,555 shares valued at about $1.736 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $3.81 beating estimates and revenue of $11.20 billion slightly ahead of forecasts, while revenue rose 12.1% year over year.
• The company also approved a $25 billion share buyback and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share, signaling confidence in its stock and cash generation.

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,555 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,736,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $176.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $144.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $182.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.21. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $286.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.12.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Salesforce with a $255 price target, saying it expects a “seasonally slow but steady” start to the period, while other analyst coverage remained generally constructive. Deutsche Bank Stays Positive on Salesforce (CRM), Citi Lowers PT
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also announced an expanded relationship with Cint to deliver AI-powered support through Slack, reinforcing its push into “agentic enterprise” tools and highlighting continued customer adoption of its AI platform. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles pointed to strong earnings momentum and expectations that Salesforce could beat estimates again, with investors also focused on solid revenue trends and Agentforce traction. Will Salesforce (CRM) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is closely watching key operating metrics ahead of Q1 results, but these previews are mostly about expectations rather than a clear new catalyst. Wall Street's Insights Into Key Metrics Ahead of Salesforce (CRM) Q1 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reinstated an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, citing concerns that AI could trigger a structural reset for software vendors like Salesforce. Salesforce rated ‘Underperform’ by Bank of America on AI growth concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Shares also slipped in the latest session, suggesting investors remain cautious despite the positive analyst commentary and AI-related growth story. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Falls Amid Market Uptick: What Investors Need to Know

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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