Poehling Capital Management INC. Boosts Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Poehling Capital Management increased its Salesforce stake by 415.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 7,586 shares to reach 9,412 shares worth about $2.49 million.
• Salesforce is drawing mixed Wall Street views as investors weigh its AI strategy: some see it as a blue-chip software name with growth potential, while Bank of America initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $160 target over AI-related concerns.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, raised its dividend to $0.44 per share, and authorized a $25 billion share buyback, signaling management confidence in the stock.

Poehling Capital Management INC. raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 415.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,412 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,586 shares during the period. Poehling Capital Management INC.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise software stocks are rallying broadly as investors rotate back into the group after recent pressure tied to fears that AI agents could disrupt traditional SaaS models. Salesforce is benefiting from that sector-wide rebound. From ServiceNow to Salesforce: why are software stocks rallying today?
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary still views Salesforce as an attractive blue-chip software holding, citing AI-related growth prospects and a relatively reasonable valuation versus peers like Oracle. Buy 5 Blue-Chip Stocks to Enhance Your Portfolio Returns in 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI push remains a key debate on Wall Street. Bank of America restarted coverage with an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, warning that AI may pressure Salesforce’s legacy CRM model and make monetization harder. BofA resets Salesforce stock price target with sobering AI verdict
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage is also focused on whether Salesforce can prove its AI strategy is working, with investors watching for evidence that Agentforce and related products can offset concerns about slower long-term growth. Software's "Baby with the Bathwater" Moment
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also highlights Salesforce’s recent weakness and the argument that AI disruption could keep investors cautious until growth re-accelerates. Is It Time To Reconsider Salesforce (CRM) After This Year’s 32% Share Price Slide?

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.56.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $179.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $288.44. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $183.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.34.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. 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 forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Salesforce 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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