Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 13,004 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management trimmed its Salesforce stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,004 shares and leaving it with 302,030 shares valued at about $80.1 million.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 expected and revenue of $11.20 billion, up 12.1% from a year earlier.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share and has an approved $25 billion share repurchase program, signaling continued capital returns to shareholders.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,030 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 13,004 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $80,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $179.39 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $289.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock's 50-day moving average is $183.73 and its 200 day moving average is $214.85. The firm has a market cap of $146.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. The firm'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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

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

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage on Salesforce with an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, implying downside from current levels. The call raised concerns that the company’s AI narrative may be losing momentum and appears to be the most stock-moving headline for CRM today. Benzinga report on Bank of America coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Another market note highlighted Salesforce among software laggards that have been hit by broad sector selling, reinforcing the idea that investors remain cautious on the stock despite AI-related growth potential. Zacks commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate analysis argued that Salesforce may still be attractive versus Oracle because of its steadier growth profile and cheaper valuation, offering a counterpoint to the bearish broker view. Zacks comparison article
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also continued promoting the company’s AI efforts, saying Slack AI can surface employee concerns and decisions, which supports the long-term AI story but is not an immediate catalyst. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also received a bullish longer-term mention as one of several AI-powered software laggards that could offer short-term upside, suggesting some investors still see value after the selloff. Zacks AI-powered laggards article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $188.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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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