Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank reduced its Salesforce stake by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,567 shares and leaving it with 98,932 shares valued at about $26.2 million.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive on CRM, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $279.18, even as several firms recently cut targets.
• Salesforce continues to emphasize its AI strategy through products like Agentforce Operations and Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, while also returning capital via a raised quarterly dividend and a new $25 billion share buyback authorization.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,932 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 6,567 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 0.7% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $26,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 7,016 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Maxi Investments CY Ltd grew its stake in Salesforce by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd now owns 47,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 88.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 37,186 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $9,851,000 after acquiring an additional 13,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.18.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $181.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $148.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.14. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $186.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

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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