Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Salesforce stake by 98.4% in the fourth quarter, selling more than 227,000 shares and leaving it with just 3,780 shares worth about $1.0 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.81 per share and revenue of $11.20 billion, both topping expectations and showing 12.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company unveiled a $25 billion share buyback authorization and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share, signaling confidence in its valuation and cash generation.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 98.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,780 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 227,634 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

CRM opened at $181.67 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $148.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $296.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.18.

Salesforce Company 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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