Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management cut its Salesforce stake by 80.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 341,020 shares and leaving it with 84,359 shares worth about $22.35 million.
• Despite mixed institutional moves, Salesforce is seeing continued insider buying: directors Laura Alber and David Blair Kirk each bought about 2,570 shares in March.
• Salesforce recently posted a strong quarter, with revenue up 13.3% to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 beating estimates, while also announcing a $25 billion share repurchase plan and a quarterly dividend.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 80.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,359 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 341,020 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 98.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,085,000 after acquiring an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the third quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $44,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $113,420,000 after acquiring an additional 61,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Salesforce by 42.2% during the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $66,610,000 after acquiring an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

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

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.79. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $276.80. The firm has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.58.

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

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.

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.