Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,655 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 11,333 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GS Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 11,698 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 36,531 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 31,949 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $179.51 on Wednesday. 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $181.63 and its 200 day moving average is $211.60. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies expects an in-line Q1 and sees second-half growth as the key catalyst, pointing to partner survey data showing many customers finished the quarter on plan or above it, along with projected revenue growth of 12.5% and current remaining performance obligations growth of 14%. Salesforce earnings preview: Jefferies eyes in-line Q1, second-half growth key
• Positive Sentiment: Some bullish commentary argues Salesforce is undervalued and highlights strong margins, free cash flow, and accelerating AI monetization through Agentforce, which could support sentiment if management shows progress on earnings day. Salesforce: The Most Undervalued Stock In The Software Space
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG reaffirmed its buy rating and set a $255 price target, signaling Wall Street still sees meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on BTIG rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews frame upcoming earnings as a key test for Salesforce’s AI narrative, with investors waiting to see whether Agentforce can meaningfully improve bookings and subscription growth. Agentforce to Boost Salesforce’s Subscription Revenue Growth in Q1
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America downgraded Salesforce to Underperform, warning that AI may become a bigger risk for the company than a growth engine if monetization lags. ServiceNow Vs Salesforce: BofA Reveals Why AI Is ‘Growth Engine’ For One And ‘Major Risk’ For The Other
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Salesforce shares have fallen sharply year to date, reflecting investor concern that the company has to deliver a stronger earnings and AI update to reverse the trend. Salesforce (CRM) Earnings Preview: Q1 Results Expected Wednesday Amid 32% YTD Decline

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.12.

Salesforce Company 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.