Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $4.61 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its Salesforce stake by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 17,418 shares valued at about $4.61 million.
• Salesforce continues to draw attention for its AI growth, with Agentforce annual recurring revenue reaching $1.2 billion, up 205% year over year, and the company also buying m3ter to support usage-based AI billing.
• The stock is under pressure despite positive fundamentals: shares were trading near a 52-week low, while analysts still hold a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a target price of about $259.26.

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 40.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,418 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s Agentforce annual recurring revenue has surged to $1.2 billion, up 205% year over year, suggesting its AI push is gaining real traction and could support longer-term growth. Salesforce's AI Business Is Growing More Than 200%, but the Stock Is Near a 52-Week Low. Something Has to Give.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter should help expand usage-based AI revenue by improving metering and billing for Agentforce and other AI products, which may open new monetization opportunities. Salesforce m3ter Deal Highlights Shift Toward Usage Based AI Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic has risen to about $5 billion highlight its strategic exposure to a leading AI startup and reinforce the company’s commitment to AI investment. Salesforce’s Anthropic Stake Reportedly Reaches $5 Billion as AI Startup Eyes IPO, Bloomberg Reports
• Neutral Sentiment: TitanX expanded its Salesforce integration with automated phone intent scoring and contact enrichment, which is incremental ecosystem news but not likely to move CRM shares by itself. TitanX Expands Salesforce and HubSpot Integrations with Automated Phone Intent™ Scoring and Contact Enrichment
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles note that Salesforce stock is still sliding, near a 52-week low, and that investors remain skeptical despite AI growth, reflecting ongoing valuation and execution concerns. Our Salesforce Stock Pick Has Flopped. We're Moving On.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader cloud-stock weakness, highlighted by Oracle’s sharp decline after earnings, is adding sector pressure that can weigh on Salesforce even when company-specific news is positive. Oracle Plunges 10% After Earnings, Salesforce Slips Near 52-Week Lows as Cloud Stocks Slide

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.26.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $166.81 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $180.50 and its 200 day moving average is $207.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.31 and a 1 year high of $276.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

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

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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