Salesforce Inc. $CRM Holdings Raised by Main Street Research LLC

Key Points

• Main Street Research LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 152.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 6,364 shares valued at about $1.69 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.81 beating estimates and revenue of $11.20 billion, up 12.1% year over year. The company also raised guidance, signaling continued growth expectations.
• The board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program, while insiders also bought shares recently; however, analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating but some cautious calls, including an Underperform from Bank of America.

Main Street Research LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 152.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,364 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 3,846 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $180.32 on Monday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $280.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $182.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce's revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with Cint to deliver next-generation AI-powered support through Slack, reinforcing the company’s push into agentic enterprise workflows and AI-driven automation. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst- and media-driven pieces highlighted Salesforce as an attractive AI and software value play, with commentary pointing to strong upside potential and expectations that Q1 results may benefit from continued digital transformation and generative AI adoption. Salesforce Likely to Beat Q1 Earnings Estimates: Time to Buy the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price-target articles continue to suggest meaningful upside for CRM, with analysts’ average target implying a large gain from current levels and some firms still keeping bullish ratings. Does Salesforce (CRM) Have the Potential to Rally 53.21% as Wall Street Analysts Expect?
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce granted 64,296 RSUs to 27 employees tied to the Cimulate acquisition; this is routine retention-related equity compensation and is not likely to materially move the stock on its own. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards to Cimulate Under Its Inducement Equity Incentive Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on Salesforce’s upcoming earnings release and expected post-earnings volatility, which adds uncertainty but no clear directional catalyst yet. Here's How Much Traders Expect Salesforce Stock Could Move After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: UBS flagged a mixed enterprise software spending backdrop and said it sees limited signs of near-term acceleration in bookings, which may be weighing on sentiment into earnings. Salesforce faces tough enterprise software backdrop heading into earnings, says UBS
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated an Underperform rating with a $160 target, signaling that some analysts remain cautious on the stock despite Salesforce’s strong market position. BofA Maintains Underperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $274.12.

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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