State of Alaska Department of Revenue Trims Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its Salesforce stake by 8.3% in Q4, selling 8,580 shares and ending the quarter with 94,257 shares valued at $24.97 million.
• Salesforce beat quarterly estimates (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05; revenue $11.20B vs. $11.18B), set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, and authorized a $25 billion share buyback plan.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets amid a ~35% YTD pullback, though the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $280.21 target; institutional ownership is ~80% and insiders own about 3%.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,257 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 8,580 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Salesforce were worth $24,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $164.99 on Monday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $296.05. The stock has a market cap of $152.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50 day moving average is $189.91 and its 200 day moving average is $226.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 22.54%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.21.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong underlying fundamentals: recent coverage highlights Salesforce's trailing‑12‑month revenue (~$41.5B), solid profitability (77.6% gross margin, ~13.9% profit margin), nearly $15B operating cash flow and $7.8 diluted EPS — all arguments that the company’s core business can justify a higher multiple over time. Salesforce Stock Is Dropping Today: What's Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Ecosystem wins / product integrations: Redpanda’s new real‑time, bidirectional connectors to Salesforce position CRM more as a central data hub — a feature that can increase platform stickiness and justify long‑term value capture. Salesforce Connectors From Redpanda Put Focus On CRM Valuation Gap
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity signaling volatility: recent options flow has drawn attention — heightened options interest can presage larger moves (up or down) around earnings, product news or macro catalysts but is not a directional confirmation on its own. Is the Options Market Predicting a Spike in Salesforce Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate / buy/hold view: some analysts note CRM is down sharply YTD (~35%) and argue the pullback plus ongoing AI adoption and improving growth make it a hold at current prices — this frames the decline as a potential buying opportunity for longer‑term investors. Salesforce Plunges 35% YTD: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Sector shock from new AI models: reports about Anthropic’s latest model and broader headlines have sparked a selloff across software stocks, pressuring CRM as investors rotate toward AI infrastructure and hardware beneficiaries. Anthropic's Latest AI Model Sends a Shockwave Through Software Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/strategy commentary: high‑profile commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) indicates a renewed “buy hardware, sell software” rotation, which can keep downward pressure on valuation multiples for large software vendors like Salesforce. Cramer explains the divergence in tech stocks – and why software may continue to lag
• Negative Sentiment: Stock price technical and momentum concerns: coverage noting three‑year lows and a steep YTD decline highlight momentum weakness that can perpetuate selling until clearer positive catalysts emerge. Salesforce stock just crashed to 3-year lows; Here's why
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/product signals: items about alternatives (e.g., Slackbot as a CRM interface) and specialized Salesforce‑based solutions could be read as both ecosystem expansion and potential competitive friction for certain use cases. Slack instead of Salesforce: Slackbot becomes CRM interface

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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