CSM Advisors LLC Has $3.48 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

CSM Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 69.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,673 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 32,877 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,992,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 14.0% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 18,406 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in Salesforce by 45.2% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 9,329 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,211,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 50.0% during the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 6,180 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Salesforce by 26.5% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,502,236 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $593,030,000 after purchasing an additional 524,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.7%

CRM opened at $198.13 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.58. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.57 and a 1-year high of $296.05. The stock has a market cap of $182.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. The company’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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Evercore dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.21.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce commenced a historic $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), delivering ~103 million shares as the initial prepayment — the company says this is the largest-ever ASR and represents immediate execution of half of a $50 billion aggregate repurchase authorization. This reduces float and signals management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase — BusinessWire
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $25 billion share-repurchase plan (up to ~14.1% of shares) via open-market purchases, reinforcing the buyback commitment and suggesting the board views the shares as undervalued. RTT News — Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets flagged the ASR launch and framed it as the largest in history, which drew buying interest and headlines boosting sentiment around Salesforce’s AI-led growth strategy paired with a large capital-return program. Salesforce commences $25B share buyback amid AI growth focus — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Independent coverage reports the stock climbed on the historic $25B ASR launch, amplifying momentum from the buyback news. Blockonomi — Salesforce Stock Climbs on Historic $25B ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Notable value investors showed interest in recent quarters, with coverage noting portfolio purchases (e.g., Bill Nygren) that can lend credibility to the long case. 247WallSt — Bill Nygren Bought These Value Gems
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and retail interest pieces note heavy search and discussion around CRM and summarize bullish theses from forums and retail research — useful for gauging retail momentum but not a direct catalyst. Zacks — Investors Heavily Search Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces recap bullish value arguments and forum-based theses on whether CRM is a buy; these provide context but largely echo the buyback and AI-growth story. Yahoo Finance — Is Salesforce A Good Stock To Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan published an options-focused piece outlining trading strategies around geopolitical uncertainty (Iran) that references CRM as an options play; this is tactical market commentary rather than fundamental company news. Seeking Alpha — J.P. Morgan Options Play

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.