Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Key Points

• Vulcan Value Partners LLC trimmed its Salesforce stake slightly in the fourth quarter, selling 14,486 shares and leaving it with 1.55 million shares worth about $411.1 million. Salesforce remains one of the firm’s largest holdings.
• Salesforce’s latest quarter came in ahead of expectations, with EPS of $3.88 on revenue of $11.13 billion, and revenue rose 13.3% year over year. The company also raised full-year profit guidance and authorized a $25 billion share buyback.
• Despite the strong results, the stock has been pressured by mixed guidance and AI disruption concerns, helping keep the market reaction muted. Analysts still rate the stock a “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $272.73.

Vulcan Value Partners LLC cut its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,549,871 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 14,486 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 7.4% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Salesforce worth $411,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% 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 News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, posting $3.88 EPS on $11.13 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 13% year over year. The company also lifted full-year profit guidance, which supports the case that its core business is still healthy. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related momentum remains a bright spot, with Salesforce saying Agentforce annualized revenue passed $1 billion and that AI-powered software adoption is helping growth. Investors may see this as evidence that Salesforce can monetize AI rather than just be disrupted by it. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said it plans to keep investing in customer-facing growth and buy back shares, which could help support the stock if execution improves. CNBC article
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the beat, Salesforce’s second-quarter revenue guidance was only around in line to slightly below expectations, which helps explain why the stock reaction has been muted rather than strongly positive. Investopedia article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are still focused on the bigger AI disruption risk, and commentary from recent coverage suggests the market remains uncertain about whether Salesforce can defend its software franchise as AI reshapes enterprise buying patterns. Proactive Investors article

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $278.81. The stock has a market cap of $145.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business's 50 day moving average is $181.23 and its 200-day moving average is $211.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.73.

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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