Salesforce Inc. $CRM Position Boosted by Convergence Investment Partners LLC

Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 706.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,846 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,625 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,732,966,000 after buying an additional 159,739 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after buying an additional 1,729,440 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,155,512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,695,856,000 after buying an additional 754,116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CRM. Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.82.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.7%

CRM opened at $173.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.65. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $292.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $142.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business’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 completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Salesforce 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.