Thames Capital Management LLC Sells 4,940 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Thames Capital Management reduced its Salesforce stake by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,940 shares and leaving it with 27,755 shares valued at about $7.35 million.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 on revenue of $11.13 billion, and raised guidance for FY2027 as its AI-focused Agentforce business gains traction.
• The company approved a $25 billion stock buyback and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, highlighting continued shareholder returns and strong cash generation.

Thames Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,755 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,940 shares during the period. Thames Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 159.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake 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 valued at $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $431,157,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $191.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $180.77 and a 200 day moving average of $210.58. The stock has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.52 and a 12 month high of $276.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $257.97.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat fiscal Q1 expectations, with revenue rising 13% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 topping estimates, reinforcing that demand remains healthy. CRM Q1 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on ARR Milestone
• Positive Sentiment: The company said Agentforce annual recurring revenue crossed $1 billion and lifted FY2027 revenue guidance, suggesting its AI products are starting to contribute meaningfully to growth. Salesforce raises FY 2027 revenue guide to $45.9B-$46.2B while launching $25B accelerated share repurchase
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program and highlighted $6.6 billion in free cash flow, signaling strong cash generation and shareholder returns. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: New customer and partner headlines, including CVS Health expanding use of Salesforce’s Agentforce Health, support the view that the company’s AI platform is gaining traction. CVS Health to Deliver Faster, More Personalized Call Center Care for Millions of Members with Salesforce's Agentforce Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, but many trimmed price targets after the report, reflecting a more cautious stance on near-term upside. Salesforce Q1 Results 'Uninspiring': 'Nothing To Dispel The AI Threat Narrative'
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed by Q2 revenue guidance, which came in slightly below expectations, keeping the stock under pressure despite the earnings beat. CRM Stock Dips After-Hours As Q2 Revenue Outlook Marginally Misses Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary continues to focus on the risk that AI agents could eventually disrupt Salesforce’s core revenue model, which is weighing on sentiment. Analyst warns Salesforce has an AI problem

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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