Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Director Laura Alber Acquires 2,571 Shares

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $194.89. 9,242,405 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,709,019. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $206.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.88. The firm has a market cap of $179.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.57 and a twelve month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.21.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Two directors increased holdings with recent open-market buys, signaling insider confidence; David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares and Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares (~$194.6 avg). Insider purchases often reassure investors about management outlook. David Kirk Form4 Laura Alber Form4
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s AI push (Agentic AI, Agentforce, Data Cloud) and a partnership to embed AI agents into workflows with NVIDIA are being highlighted as growth drivers that could reaccelerate bookings and revenue. These product-level catalysts support a bullish operational narrative. Agentic AI Article NVIDIA Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: The board authorized a $25 billion repurchase program and the company announced a higher quarterly dividend ($0.44). The ASR and buyback increase near-term EPS and signal management conviction, supporting the stock. Buyback Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying and concentrated ownership by index players (Vanguard, State Street, etc.) remains a structural support for liquidity and valuation. MarketBeat Institutional Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry and product coverage pieces—profiles of Salesforce architects and niche competitive moves (e.g., Covve’s rebrand)—provide context but are unlikely to move the stock materially on their own. Architect Profile Covve Rebrand
• Negative Sentiment: The $25B repurchase was largely funded via a large debt package (multi?tranche senior notes and a $6B term loan), materially changing Salesforce’s capital structure; this increases leverage risk and could pressure credit metrics if growth slows. Some analysts highlight the refinancing risk. Debt-funded ASR Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms trimmed price targets after recent moves; while ratings remain generally favorable, lower targets reflect near-term valuation concerns and the market’s reassessment post-buyback. Analyst Notes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.