Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its Salesforce stake by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,889 shares and ending with 30,963 shares valued at about $8.2 million.
• Salesforce reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.81 versus estimates of $3.05 and revenue of $11.20 billion, up 12.1% year over year.
• The company is returning more capital to shareholders, having raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share and authorized a $25 billion share buyback program.

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,963 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,889 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $181.67 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $186.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business 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, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their price target 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. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.18.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

About Salesforce

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.