St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC opened a new stake in Salesforce, acquiring 10,882 shares valued at about $2.883 million (roughly 1.8% of its holdings), while multiple other funds boosted positions and institutional ownership sits around 80.4%.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly EPS beat ($3.81 vs. $3.05) on $11.2 billion in revenue and set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44.
• The Board approved a $25 billion buyback (about 14.1% of shares), coinciding with a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a $280.21 price target, but the move has drawn concern that debt-funded repurchases could increase leverage and dampen growth investment.

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,882 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,883,000. Salesforce makes up about 1.8% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,085,000 after acquiring an additional 10,633 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $44,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $113,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $66,610,000 after purchasing an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $195.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $180.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $203.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.18.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

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

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-level buyback signal — Coverage highlights a record-sized repurchase program (previously reported at ~$50B at the board level), which investors interpret as management saying the shares are undervalued and that EPS should be supported as shares are retired. Salesforce (CRM) Valuation Check As Record US$50b Buyback Signals Confidence In Long-Term Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying by directors — Two directors (including Laura Alber) recently bought ~2,570 shares each at ~\$194.6, which often reads as management putting personal capital behind the stock. Insider Buying: Salesforce NYSE: CRM Director Buys 2,571 Shares of Stock
• Positive Sentiment: AI/product narrative remains supportive — Coverage of Salesforce’s agentic AI and Data Cloud pushes reinforces the growth thesis if bookings and enterprise adoption accelerate. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Expands AI Strategy As Dow Jones Industrials Average Reacts
• Neutral Sentiment: Execution/architecture critique — Analysts and commentary (e.g., Seeking Alpha) argue AI itself isn’t the core problem but that Salesforce’s architecture and integration/execution could limit how quickly AI features translate to sustainable revenue growth. Salesforce: AI Is Not The Problem, Architecture Is
• Negative Sentiment: Debt-funded buyback raises leverage concerns — CNBC reports Salesforce issued \$25B of debt to fund buybacks; that increases financial leverage and raises questions about prioritizing buybacks over organic reinvestment. Salesforce issues $25 billion in debt to buy back stock. Should we be concerned?
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback prompts scepticism about growth allocation — Coverage (e.g., 247WallStreet) questions whether heavy buybacks mask weaker organic growth opportunities and could cap upside if sales momentum stalls. A $50 Billion Buyback Is Raising Questions About Salesforce’s Growth Story
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims — Several firms pared price targets after earnings/guidance, keeping sell-side sentiment mixed and possibly limiting near-term upside. MarketBeat: Salesforce company summary & earnings

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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