Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Invests $7.94 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Shikiar Asset Management opened a new position in Salesforce, buying 29,967 shares worth about $7.94 million, which represents roughly 2.0% of its portfolio and is its 18th largest holding.
• Salesforce's board authorized a $25 billion share buyback (up to about 14.1% of outstanding stock) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44, implying a ~1.0% yield.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 expected and revenue of $11.20 billion (up 12.1% YoY), and issued FY2027 EPS guidance of roughly 13.11–13.19.

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 29,967 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,939,000. Salesforce comprises approximately 2.0% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.7%

CRM opened at $176.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $191.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.25%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the 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 purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.21.

Salesforce 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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