Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,154 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.2% during the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.
Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%
CRM stock opened at $195.34 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $180.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.29.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.54%.
Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce has launched a record $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), with initial delivery of roughly 103 million shares, which should boost EPS and signal management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a major AI partnership with NVIDIA to embed AI agents into workflows — a strategic move that could deepen product differentiation and drive enterprise demand for AI-enabled CRM. Salesforce Teams with NVIDIA to Bring AI Agents into the Flow of Work
- Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and brokers are endorsing the capital-allocation move: Truist reiterated a Buy and other analyst notes highlight management conviction in growth and EPS accretion from buybacks. Analyst support can underpin sentiment and price targets. Salesforce (CRM) Gets Buy Rating on Capital Allocation Strategy
- Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and strategy pieces are parsing the company’s “doubling down” on AI and buybacks; these provide context but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Salesforce: Doubling Down In A Time Of Uncertainty
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundups and investor interest pieces are elevating attention on CRM; heightened searches and AP coverage can increase short-term trading volume but are information, not a catalyst per se. Analysts Offer Insights on Technology Companies: Salesforce (CRM)
- Negative Sentiment: Salesforce funded the ASR largely with a multi-tranche debt package (senior notes maturing 2028–2066 and a new $6B term loan), significantly increasing leverage and interest exposure — a structural risk if growth/ cash generation slows or rates rise. The Bull Case For Salesforce (CRM) Could Change Following Debt-Funded $25 Billion Buyback And Refinancing Transaction
- Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns the large, debt-funded buyback could change the bull case by concentrating risk in the capital structure — investors are re-pricing that trade-off today. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Climbs on Historic $25B Share Repurchase Launch
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.
Recommended Stories
Receive News & Ratings for Salesforce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Salesforce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
