Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Cuts Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Smithbridge Asset Management cut its Salesforce stake by 54.1% in the first quarter, selling 10,227 shares and leaving it with 8,676 shares valued at about $1.62 million.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 and revenue of $11.13 billion, both ahead of consensus estimates, while revenue rose 13.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive despite recent weakness: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, a $254.42 average target price, and the company recently announced a $25 billion share buyback plus a quarterly dividend.

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 54.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,676 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 10,227 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup raised Salesforce from a "market outperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $163.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

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

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce to Buy and argued that recent selloff levels make the shares more attractive, helping lift sentiment around the stock. Salesforce Will Face AI Disruption but Stock Still Gets an Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Other commentary echoed the upgrade, with analysts saying Salesforce and other beaten-down software names may be poised for a rebound after recent pressure. Upgrade Boosts 2 Beaten-Down Software Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens reiterated a Market Outperform rating following Salesforce’s Fin acquisition and Agentforce expansion, reinforcing the bull case that AI and product integration can support future upside. Citizens Reiterates Market Outperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM) Following Fin Acquisition and Agentforce Expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted that Salesforce has fallen sharply over the past month and June, which frames the stock as a deep pullback candidate but also shows ongoing investor skepticism about growth and AI monetization. Salesforce (CRM) Down More Than 10% Over the Past Month, Here’s What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue debating Salesforce’s AI growth outlook, with some trimming fair value estimates while others say recent weakness may have overdone concerns around AI “hallucination” and competition. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Sees Modest Fair Value Cut As Analysts Debate AI Growth

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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