Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyUnion Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 625.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 54,922 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,349 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in Salesforce by 658.8% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, 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, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.21.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Salesforce News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Board-authorized $50 billion repurchase — management approved an unprecedented buyback that signals confidence in long-term value and reduces share count, supporting EPS. Salesforce (CRM) Valuation Check As Record US$50b Buyback Signals Confidence In Long-Term Growth
- Positive Sentiment: Insider buying by directors — two directors disclosed purchases (~2,570 shares each at ~\$194.6), which investors often read as management signaling the stock is attractively valued. Insider Buying: Salesforce Director Buys Shares
- Positive Sentiment: Agentic AI and Data Cloud push — recent coverage highlights Salesforce’s renewed AI investments (Agentforce, Data Cloud) as potential drivers of bookings and revenue reacceleration. That narrative supports a re-rating if growth follows. Salesforce’s Agentic AI Push: Can It Reaccelerate CRM’s Sales Growth?
- Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly results mixed — Salesforce reported a strong EPS beat and record quarterly revenue, but guidance commentary left mixed read-throughs; investors are weighing the beat against any near-term growth cadence risk. MarketBeat: Salesforce company summary & earnings
- Negative Sentiment: Buyback sparks growth concerns — some analysts and outlets question whether the \$50B buyback is the best use of cash versus investing to reaccelerate organic growth, which could cap upside if sales momentum stalls. A $50 Billion Buyback Is Raising Questions About Salesforce’s Growth Story
- Negative Sentiment: Analyst targets trimmed — several firms trimmed price targets after results, keeping sentiment mixed; that could limit near-term upside despite corporate actions. MarketBeat: Analyst ratings and target changes
Salesforce Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $194.89 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $205.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.61. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.57 and a fifty-two week high of $296.05. The firm has a market cap of $179.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 21.25%.
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report).