Salesforce Inc. $CRM Position Lifted by Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,835 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,459 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 3.2% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 285.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat fiscal Q1 expectations, with revenue rising 13% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 topping estimates, reinforcing that demand remains healthy. CRM Q1 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on ARR Milestone
• Positive Sentiment: The company said Agentforce annual recurring revenue crossed $1 billion and lifted FY2027 revenue guidance, suggesting its AI products are starting to contribute meaningfully to growth. Salesforce raises FY 2027 revenue guide to $45.9B-$46.2B while launching $25B accelerated share repurchase
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program and highlighted $6.6 billion in free cash flow, signaling strong cash generation and shareholder returns. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: New customer and partner headlines, including CVS Health expanding use of Salesforce’s Agentforce Health, support the view that the company’s AI platform is gaining traction. CVS Health to Deliver Faster, More Personalized Call Center Care for Millions of Members with Salesforce’s Agentforce Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, but many trimmed price targets after the report, reflecting a more cautious stance on near-term upside. Salesforce Q1 Results ‘Uninspiring’: ‘Nothing To Dispel The AI Threat Narrative’
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed by Q2 revenue guidance, which came in slightly below expectations, keeping the stock under pressure despite the earnings beat. CRM Stock Dips After-Hours As Q2 Revenue Outlook Marginally Misses Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary continues to focus on the risk that AI agents could eventually disrupt Salesforce’s core revenue model, which is weighing on sentiment. Analyst warns Salesforce has an AI problem

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents 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 bought 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 8.4%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.58. The stock has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on CRM shares. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.97.

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.