Prudential PLC Sells 25,693 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Prudential PLC reduced its stake in Salesforce by 16.4%, selling 25,693 shares in Q3 and now holds 131,021 shares worth about $31.05 million.
• Salesforce posted a fiscal Q4 earnings beat (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05) with revenue up 12.1%, has priced a $25 billion senior-note offering to fund buybacks and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, though shares traded down roughly 3.3% amid mixed analyst sentiment (consensus "Moderate Buy," $282.06 target).

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,021 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 25,693 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Country Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 40.9% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is rolling out Agentforce, its contact-center-as-a-service push aimed at replacing fragmented contact-center stacks—this could deepen wallet-share with large enterprise customers and support growth in CRM-adjacent services. Salesforce Aims to End the ‘Frankenstein’ Contact Center With Agentforce
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce added six Agentforce Health agents pre-wired with integrations for healthcare workflows—strengthens vertical product shelf and could accelerate adoption in a high-value industry. Salesforce Announces Six New Agentforce Health Agents Pre-Wired With Rich Integrations
• Positive Sentiment: Management intends to use net proceeds from the $25B senior-note offering to fund buybacks—this can be EPS-accretive and supports shareholder returns if repurchases are executed. Salesforce Prices Public Offering of Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundups following Salesforce’s fiscal Q4 results highlight mixed views—earnings beat and guidance were solid, but some analysts remain cautious on valuation and AI execution risk. What are Analysts Thinking of Salesforce (CRM) Following Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results?
• Neutral Sentiment: Formal notice that the $25B notes have been priced is a factual development—markets are focused on coupon levels and close conditions. Salesforce Prices Public Offering of Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive ecosystem moves: LivePerson launched integrations that work with Salesforce, underscoring partner/competitor dynamics in conversational AI and contact-center orchestration. LivePerson Announces Event-driven Orchestration Partnership with Coral Active
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary warns investors demanded higher yields on the bond sale—Zacks flags caution around rising leverage and AI uncertainty, which can pressure multiples and sentiment. Salesforce Taps Bonds for Buybacks as Investors Demand More Yield
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrade(s) and at least one pessimistic price forecast have added selling pressure and negative sentiment near term. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Stock Price Down 2% on Analyst Downgrade Northland Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce NYSE: CRM Stock Price

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.06.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of CRM opened at $192.63 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $210.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $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. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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