Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Holdings Decreased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its Salesforce stake by 44% in the fourth quarter, selling 131,089 shares and leaving it with 166,939 shares valued at about $44.2 million.
• Despite some fund selling, Salesforce still has broad institutional support, with 80.43% of shares owned by institutions and hedge funds. Several other investors increased positions or opened new stakes during the quarter.
• Analysts remain mostly positive on CRM even after trimming price targets; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $259.47. Salesforce also recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, raised guidance, and announced a $25 billion buyback plus a quarterly dividend.

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,939 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 131,089 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $44,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 116.1% during the fourth quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. now owns 11,298 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,746,000 after purchasing an additional 6,071 shares during the period. Beckerman Institutional LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $278,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 96,236 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $25,494,000 after purchasing an additional 7,532 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 74,613 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $19,766,000 after purchasing an additional 9,195 shares during the period. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $259.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates, raised full-year profit guidance, and said Agentforce ARR passed $1 billion, reinforcing momentum in its AI strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a $25 billion accelerated buyback, which should provide direct support to shareholder returns and may help limit downside.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, with firms like Wedbush, Piper Sandler, Cantor Fitzgerald, and B. Riley reiterating bullish ratings and high price targets despite trimming estimates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and other banks lowered price targets modestly, but most still kept neutral-to-positive views, suggesting the Street is resetting expectations rather than turning outright bearish.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock is being held back by slightly light revenue guidance and continued investor concern that AI competition could pressure Salesforce’s growth profile over time.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $176.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.72. 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 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $276.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

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

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.

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