Orange Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,509 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,172 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.9% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,145.6% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 10,633 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after buying an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after buying an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Key Salesforce News
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Salesforce with a $255 price target, saying it expects a “seasonally slow but steady” start to the period, while other analyst coverage remained generally constructive. Deutsche Bank Stays Positive on Salesforce (CRM), Citi Lowers PT
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also announced an expanded relationship with Cint to deliver AI-powered support through Slack, reinforcing its push into “agentic enterprise” tools and highlighting continued customer adoption of its AI platform. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
- Positive Sentiment: Several articles pointed to strong earnings momentum and expectations that Salesforce could beat estimates again, with investors also focused on solid revenue trends and Agentforce traction. Will Salesforce (CRM) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
- Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is closely watching key operating metrics ahead of Q1 results, but these previews are mostly about expectations rather than a clear new catalyst. Wall Street’s Insights Into Key Metrics Ahead of Salesforce (CRM) Q1 Earnings
- Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reinstated an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, citing concerns that AI could trigger a structural reset for software vendors like Salesforce. Salesforce rated ‘Underperform’ by Bank of America on AI growth concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Shares also slipped in the latest session, suggesting investors remain cautious despite the positive analyst commentary and AI-related growth story. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Falls Amid Market Uptick: What Investors Need to Know
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In related news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director 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. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Trading Down 2.1%
NYSE:CRM opened at $176.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $144.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.25 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. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $286.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $182.53 and a 200-day moving average of $213.21.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. 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 analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 22.54%.
Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
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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