Wesbanco Bank Inc. Reduces Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 64.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 63,635 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, June 15th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.61.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating and a $240 price target on Salesforce, citing AI momentum and growth tied to Agentforce, which reinforces the bullish long-term case for the stock. TD Cowen Reaffirms Buy Rating on Salesforce (CRM) as AI Momentum and Agentforce Drive Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of Salesforce’s Agentforce and broader AI strategy suggests the company is still seen as a serious player in enterprise AI, which may help offset fears that legacy software growth is slowing. Salesforce Agentforce: A Comprehensive Enterprise Cheat Sheet and Review
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces argue Salesforce has been overly sold off and may be undervalued after its post-earnings decline, but these are more valuation arguments than fresh catalysts. Salesforce: Taking Advantage Of The Market’s Misunderstanding Of Enterprise Software
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter to expand dynamic pricing tools adds to its AI CRM platform, but the immediate stock impact looks limited so far. Salesforce expands AI CRM with acquisition of m3ter for dynamic pricing
• Negative Sentiment: One article notes Salesforce is still down sharply since its last earnings report, reminding investors that sentiment remains fragile despite the recent rebound. Salesforce (CRM) Down 14.8% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: Another report says Salesforce is trying to defend its AI position with new tools for RIAs, but experts are raising concerns about cost, implementation, and benefits, which could limit enthusiasm. Salesforce tries to catch up on AI — and halt precipitous stock slide — with launch of ‘Agentic Advisor’ for RIAs

Salesforce Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $158.23 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $276.80. The stock has a market cap of $129.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.56 and a 200 day moving average of $201.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. 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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.