WD Rutherford LLC Has $2.26 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• WD Rutherford LLC cut its Salesforce stake by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,923 shares and leaving it with 8,525 shares valued at about $2.26 million.
• Insider buying picked up, with directors Laura Alber and David Blair Kirk each purchasing about 2,570 shares in March at roughly $194.60 per share, signaling confidence from management.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results and returned capital to shareholders, beating earnings estimates and approving a $25 billion share buyback while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share.

WD Rutherford LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,525 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,923 shares during the period. WD Rutherford LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Odyssey Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. High Note Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 5,711 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $8,477,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $173.77 on Monday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $292.17. The stock has a market cap of $142.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $184.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's payout ratio is 22.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.82.

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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