Strategic Blueprint LLC Sells 3,680 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• In a Q4 13F filing, Strategic Blueprint LLC cut its stake in Salesforce by 66.1%, selling 3,680 shares and leaving 1,886 shares valued at about $500,000.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations with $3.81 EPS (vs. $3.05 expected) and $11.20B revenue, and set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 (Q1 guidance 3.110–3.130).
• Salesforce increased its quarterly dividend to $0.44 and authorized a $25.0 billion share buyback (up to ~14.1% of shares) as part of its capital return plans.

Strategic Blueprint LLC lessened its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,886 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,680 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 159.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 285.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,117 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,753,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.6%

Salesforce stock opened at $176.45 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $296.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $144.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.45.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase 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 is 22.54%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.18.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

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