Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Zuckerman Investment Group bought a new stake in Salesforce of 28,015 shares (~$6.64M) in Q3, while Temasek dramatically increased its position to 659,458 shares (+1,309.9%, ~$156.3M); institutional investors now own about 80.43% of the stock.
• Salesforce beat quarterly estimates with EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 and revenue of $11.20B (up 12.1% YoY), and set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.11–13.19 and Q1 guidance of 3.11–3.13.
• Management priced a $25B senior-note offering to fund buybacks and boosted the quarterly dividend to $0.44 (annualized $1.76, 0.9% yield), but shares have fallen and several analysts cut targets amid concerns over higher leverage and AI execution risk.

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 28,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,640,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,309.9% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 659,458 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $156,292,000 after purchasing an additional 612,685 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 13,380 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,234,000 after buying an additional 3,601 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 52.4% in the third quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $498,000. Finally, Perbak Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Salesforce by 194.7% during the third quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,030 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $192.63 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.57 and a fifty-two week high of $296.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $210.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.06.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is rolling out Agentforce, its contact-center-as-a-service push aimed at replacing fragmented contact-center stacks—this could deepen wallet-share with large enterprise customers and support growth in CRM-adjacent services. Salesforce Aims to End the ‘Frankenstein’ Contact Center With Agentforce
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce added six Agentforce Health agents pre-wired with integrations for healthcare workflows—strengthens vertical product shelf and could accelerate adoption in a high-value industry. Salesforce Announces Six New Agentforce Health Agents Pre-Wired With Rich Integrations
• Positive Sentiment: Management intends to use net proceeds from the $25B senior-note offering to fund buybacks—this can be EPS-accretive and supports shareholder returns if repurchases are executed. Salesforce Prices Public Offering of Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundups following Salesforce’s fiscal Q4 results highlight mixed views—earnings beat and guidance were solid, but some analysts remain cautious on valuation and AI execution risk. What are Analysts Thinking of Salesforce (CRM) Following Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results?
• Neutral Sentiment: Formal notice that the $25B notes have been priced is a factual development—markets are focused on coupon levels and close conditions. Salesforce Prices Public Offering of Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive ecosystem moves: LivePerson launched integrations that work with Salesforce, underscoring partner/competitor dynamics in conversational AI and contact-center orchestration. LivePerson Announces Event-driven Orchestration Partnership with Coral Active
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary warns investors demanded higher yields on the bond sale—Zacks flags caution around rising leverage and AI uncertainty, which can pressure multiples and sentiment. Salesforce Taps Bonds for Buybacks as Investors Demand More Yield
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrade(s) and at least one pessimistic price forecast have added selling pressure and negative sentiment near term. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Stock Price Down 2% on Analyst Downgrade Northland Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce NYSE: CRM Stock Price

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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