Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 2,635 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 9.1%, buying 2,635 shares to hold 31,625 shares worth about $8.38 million at the end of the quarter.
• The Board authorized a $25.0 billion share buyback (up to ~14.1% of shares), but reports that Salesforce issued $25B of debt to fund buybacks have prompted concerns about increased leverage and capital-allocation choices.
• Salesforce topped quarterly estimates with EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 and $11.20B in revenue, provided FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,625 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Country Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $195.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $296.05. The stock has a market cap of $180.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day moving average is $203.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.18.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 22.54%.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-level buyback signal — Coverage highlights a record-sized repurchase program (previously reported at ~$50B at the board level), which investors interpret as management saying the shares are undervalued and that EPS should be supported as shares are retired. Salesforce (CRM) Valuation Check As Record US$50b Buyback Signals Confidence In Long-Term Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying by directors — Two directors (including Laura Alber) recently bought ~2,570 shares each at ~\$194.6, which often reads as management putting personal capital behind the stock. Insider Buying: Salesforce NYSE: CRM Director Buys 2,571 Shares of Stock
• Positive Sentiment: AI/product narrative remains supportive — Coverage of Salesforce’s agentic AI and Data Cloud pushes reinforces the growth thesis if bookings and enterprise adoption accelerate. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Expands AI Strategy As Dow Jones Industrials Average Reacts
• Neutral Sentiment: Execution/architecture critique — Analysts and commentary (e.g., Seeking Alpha) argue AI itself isn’t the core problem but that Salesforce’s architecture and integration/execution could limit how quickly AI features translate to sustainable revenue growth. Salesforce: AI Is Not The Problem, Architecture Is
• Negative Sentiment: Debt-funded buyback raises leverage concerns — CNBC reports Salesforce issued \$25B of debt to fund buybacks; that increases financial leverage and raises questions about prioritizing buybacks over organic reinvestment. Salesforce issues $25 billion in debt to buy back stock. Should we be concerned?
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback prompts scepticism about growth allocation — Coverage (e.g., 247WallStreet) questions whether heavy buybacks mask weaker organic growth opportunities and could cap upside if sales momentum stalls. A $50 Billion Buyback Is Raising Questions About Salesforce’s Growth Story
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims — Several firms pared price targets after earnings/guidance, keeping sell-side sentiment mixed and possibly limiting near-term upside. MarketBeat: Salesforce company summary & earnings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.21.

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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