Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Purchased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Salesforce by 39.1% in Q4, buying an additional 16,238 shares to hold 57,741 shares worth about $15.30 million.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05; revenue $11.20B vs. $11.18B), set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, and announced a $25 billion share buyback while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.44.
• Institutional investors own about 80.43% of the stock, and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a target price near $279.18.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,741 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,238 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $180.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.46. The company has a market cap of $147.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. 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 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $296.05.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% 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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