William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management sharply reduced its Salesforce stake by 94.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 539,419 shares and leaving it with 28,947 shares worth about $7.67 million.
• Several analysts recently adjusted Salesforce price targets, with ratings still leaning bullish overall: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $274.12.
• Salesforce posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS estimates and authorizing a $25 billion share repurchase program, signaling management confidence in the stock’s value.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 94.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,947 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 539,419 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 285.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,842,117 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,753,519,000 after buying an additional 1,729,440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on 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-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.12.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $179.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $146.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $181.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.60. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $278.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating and raised its price target to $255, implying significant upside if Salesforce delivers a solid quarter. Benzinga report on BTIG price target
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies expects an in-line Q1 and says partner surveys show many customers finished the quarter on plan or above plan, suggesting healthy demand and room for second-half growth. Salesforce earnings preview: Jefferies eyes in-line Q1, second-half growth key
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish previews argue Salesforce’s Agentforce AI momentum could boost subscription revenue and help reignite investor confidence heading into results. Zacks Agentforce preview
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and investors continue to call Salesforce undervalued, pointing to strong revenue, high margins, and accelerating AI monetization as reasons the stock could recover. Seeking Alpha undervalued thesis
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is broadly treating Wednesday’s report as a key test, with headlines focused on what Salesforce says about AI adoption, bookings, and second-half growth rather than on any one pre-report catalyst. Benzinga pre-earnings expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated an Underperform view, saying AI is a major risk for Salesforce and that the market may be discounting disruption to its core software business. BofA on Salesforce AI risk
• Negative Sentiment: Other recent commentary highlights continued concern that Salesforce shares have lagged sharply this year, with investors waiting for earnings to prove AI can reaccelerate growth. Zacks commentary on Salesforce

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.

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