Qsemble Capital Management LP Cuts Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Qsemble Capital Management cut its Salesforce stake by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,382 shares and leaving it with 11,364 shares worth about $3.01 million.
• Despite that sale, other institutions and insiders were active buyers: several funds increased holdings, and directors Laura Alber and David Blair Kirk each bought roughly 2,570 shares in March.
• Salesforce’s business and stock have been supported by AI-related momentum and solid earnings, including a stronger-than-expected quarterly report, a $25 billion buyback authorization, and new government and Moderna-related AI contracts, though some analysts have trimmed price targets amid softer enterprise software spending.

Qsemble Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,364 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 9,382 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 7,766 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 35,245 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $9,337,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,131 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Salesforce by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 2,075,596 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $549,846,000 after acquiring an additional 417,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 48,300 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,795,000 after acquiring an additional 17,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $173.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $142.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. 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 fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $292.17. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $184.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.65.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.82.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.