Salesforce Inc. $CRM Holdings Trimmed by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its Salesforce stake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,129 shares and leaving it with 221,441 shares worth about $58.7 million.
• Salesforce delivered a strong fiscal Q1, with revenue up 13.3% to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 beating estimates, while the company also raised FY2027 guidance.
• The company announced a $25 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend, signaling confidence in cash generation and shareholder returns even as some investors remain cautious about near-term revenue guidance and AI-related competition.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,441 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 8,129 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Salesforce were worth $58,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,568,000 after buying an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $431,157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat fiscal Q1 expectations, with revenue rising 13% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 topping estimates, reinforcing that demand remains healthy. CRM Q1 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on ARR Milestone
• Positive Sentiment: The company said Agentforce annual recurring revenue crossed $1 billion and lifted FY2027 revenue guidance, suggesting its AI products are starting to contribute meaningfully to growth. Salesforce raises FY 2027 revenue guide to $45.9B-$46.2B while launching $25B accelerated share repurchase
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program and highlighted $6.6 billion in free cash flow, signaling strong cash generation and shareholder returns. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: New customer and partner headlines, including CVS Health expanding use of Salesforce’s Agentforce Health, support the view that the company’s AI platform is gaining traction. CVS Health to Deliver Faster, More Personalized Call Center Care for Millions of Members with Salesforce's Agentforce Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, but many trimmed price targets after the report, reflecting a more cautious stance on near-term upside. Salesforce Q1 Results 'Uninspiring': 'Nothing To Dispel The AI Threat Narrative'
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed by Q2 revenue guidance, which came in slightly below expectations, keeping the stock under pressure despite the earnings beat. CRM Stock Dips After-Hours As Q2 Revenue Outlook Marginally Misses Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary continues to focus on the risk that AI agents could eventually disrupt Salesforce’s core revenue model, which is weighing on sentiment. Analyst warns Salesforce has an AI problem

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 8.4%

Salesforce stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.58.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.97.

About Salesforce

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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