Key Points
- Salesforce director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares on March 18 at an average price of $194.62 (~$500,173), increasing his direct holdings to 13,689 shares — a 23.11% rise — as disclosed in an SEC Form 4.
- The board authorized a $25 billion share buyback (up to ~14.1% of outstanding stock) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share (annualized $1.76, yield ~0.9%; ex-dividend April 9).
- Salesforce reported Q results beating estimates with $3.81 EPS vs. $3.05 expected and $11.20B revenue (up 12.1% YoY), and set FY2027 EPS guidance of $13.11–$13.19.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Salesforce Price Performance
CRM stock opened at $194.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $174.57 and a one year high of $296.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $206.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.88.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $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. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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 is presently 21.25%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.21.
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Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,800,353,000 after buying an additional 270,913 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,286,909,000 after buying an additional 659,573 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 13.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after acquiring an additional 791,345 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Salesforce
(
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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.
Further Reading
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