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Savant Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

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Key Points

  • Savant Capital LLC cut its Salesforce stake by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,725 shares and leaving it with 14,101 shares worth about $3.74 million.
  • Salesforce reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.88 and revenue of $11.13 billion, both above estimates, as revenue rose 13.3% year over year.
  • The company is returning cash to shareholders through a $25 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, while also raising its FY2027 guidance.
  • MarketBeat previews top five stocks to own in July.

Savant Capital LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,101 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,725 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

Salesforce Trading Up 8.4%

Shares of CRM opened at $191.00 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $276.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm's fifty day moving average is $180.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.58. The stock has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. 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 previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The firm'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. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $257.97.

View Our Latest Report on Salesforce

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

About Salesforce

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

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.

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