Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its Salesforce stake by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 25,887 shares valued at about $6.86 million.
• Salesforce insiders were buying shares: directors David Blair Kirk and Laura Alber each purchased about 2,570 shares in mid-March, signaling confidence in the stock.
• The company continues to lean into AI growth with products like Agentforce Operations and Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, while also supporting shareholders through a $25 billion buyback and a higher quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,887 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 20,282 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Income Insurance Ltd purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $760,000. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CRM opened at $181.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $148.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The stock'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. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm cut their price target on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued 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 target price of $279.18.

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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