Sovran Advisors LLC Purchases 2,913 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 41.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,016 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,913 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $187.01 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05. The stock has a market cap of $172.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $194.55 and a 200-day moving average of $228.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.25%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.21.

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.