Cerity Partners LLC Reduces Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 533,938 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 109,101 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Salesforce worth $141,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $589,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $276.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer lowered 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. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.85.

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.