Riverbridge Partners LLC Reduces Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,259 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 13,185 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $30,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is being highlighted by bullish commentators as a potential value opportunity near 52-week lows, with one article arguing that a large buyback “war chest” could support the stock if management accelerates repurchases. Salesforce: A No-Brainer ‘Buy’ At 52-Week Lows, Buyback War Chest Unleashed
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a new partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team to use Agentforce 360 for fan engagement and operations, which showcases real-world AI adoption and could help sentiment around its AI strategy. VCARB Partners with Salesforce to Supercharge Fan Engagement with AI, Deploying Agentforce 360
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reportedly kept a Buy rating on Salesforce, and commentators including Jim Cramer have pointed to the stock as potentially attractive after its steep decline. Jim Cramer Discusses Big Salesforce (CRM) Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce has been attracting unusually high investor attention on Zacks, but the note mainly points to increased interest rather than a clear new catalyst. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has been sliding amid a record losing streak, with investors worried that AI could pressure the traditional SaaS model and slow Salesforce’s growth outlook. Salesforce stock hits 52-week low amid record losing streak and AI fears
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said Salesforce’s shares were sliding as the stock approached a record 14th consecutive daily loss, reinforcing weak momentum and bearish trading sentiment. Why Salesforce (CRM) shares are sliding today
• Negative Sentiment: A cybersecurity article noted that a Klue breach exposed Salesforce CRM data via stolen OAuth tokens, which could add to investor concerns about ecosystem security and customer trust. Klue breach exposed Salesforce CRM data through stolen OAuth tokens

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Salesforce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $153.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $176.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $125.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Salesforce

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.