ARS Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,055 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,710 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Salesforce to buy from neutral and set a $200 price target, signaling roughly 32% upside and citing valuation appeal plus AI-related gains. Monness upgrades Salesforce stock on valuation, AI gains; sees 31% upside
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated confidence in Salesforce following its $3.6 billion acquisition of Fin, a move that could strengthen the company’s AI/customer-agent product lineup. Salesforce (CRM) Earns Vote of Confidence from Truist after $3.6 Billion Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Salesforce as a long-term growth name and an AI beneficiary, with bullish coverage around its Agentforce strategy and generative AI positioning. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparison pieces versus Oracle and broad stock-picking articles suggest investors are weighing Salesforce’s slower recent performance against its AI growth narrative rather than reacting to a single new catalyst. Oracle vs. Salesforce: Which Tech Giant Is The Better Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: A recent commentary noted that Salesforce stock has fallen sharply this year, reflecting investor concern about execution, growth expectations, and the company’s discounted valuation versus past highs. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Plunges 41% This Year — A Buying Opportunity Emerges?

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

CRM opened at $151.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.35. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.80 and a twelve month high of $276.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Piper Sandler downgraded Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.61.

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.