Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) by 5.3%, selling 5,859 shares and holding 105,004 shares valued at $27.817 million at quarter-end.
• Corporate insiders were active: Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares at $194.62 (a 23.11% increase in his stake), while Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares at $238.70 (a 34.78% reduction).
• Salesforce announced a $25 billion share buyback (up to 14.1% of shares) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share, signaling management confidence in the stock.

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,004 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,859 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $27,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 98,606 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $26,122,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. now owns 2,084 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,617 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares during the period. Jefferson Bridge Capital LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,673,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in Salesforce by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 1,108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. 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 report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.1%

CRM stock opened at $183.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.80. 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 $174.57 and a 52 week 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $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. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase 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 is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

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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