CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 40.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,130,741 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 767,880 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $267,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Country Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE CRM opened at $195.34 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $180.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $207.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. 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, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” 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 given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce has launched a record $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), with initial delivery of roughly 103 million shares, which should boost EPS and signal management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a major AI partnership with NVIDIA to embed AI agents into workflows — a strategic move that could deepen product differentiation and drive enterprise demand for AI-enabled CRM. Salesforce Teams with NVIDIA to Bring AI Agents into the Flow of Work
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and brokers are endorsing the capital-allocation move: Truist reiterated a Buy and other analyst notes highlight management conviction in growth and EPS accretion from buybacks. Analyst support can underpin sentiment and price targets. Salesforce (CRM) Gets Buy Rating on Capital Allocation Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and strategy pieces are parsing the company’s “doubling down” on AI and buybacks; these provide context but don’t change fundamentals immediately. Salesforce: Doubling Down In A Time Of Uncertainty
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundups and investor interest pieces are elevating attention on CRM; heightened searches and AP coverage can increase short-term trading volume but are information, not a catalyst per se. Analysts Offer Insights on Technology Companies: Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce funded the ASR largely with a multi-tranche debt package (senior notes maturing 2028–2066 and a new $6B term loan), significantly increasing leverage and interest exposure — a structural risk if growth/ cash generation slows or rates rise. The Bull Case For Salesforce (CRM) Could Change Following Debt-Funded $25 Billion Buyback And Refinancing Transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warns the large, debt-funded buyback could change the bull case by concentrating risk in the capital structure — investors are re-pricing that trade-off today. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Climbs on Historic $25B Share Repurchase Launch

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.