Delta Global Management LP Decreases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Delta Global Management LP cut its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 89.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,118 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 82,377 shares during the period. Delta Global Management LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $484,852,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $431,157,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce commenced a historic $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), delivering ~103 million shares as the initial prepayment — the company says this is the largest-ever ASR and represents immediate execution of half of a $50 billion aggregate repurchase authorization. This reduces float and signals management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase — BusinessWire
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $25 billion share-repurchase plan (up to ~14.1% of shares) via open-market purchases, reinforcing the buyback commitment and suggesting the board views the shares as undervalued. RTT News — Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets flagged the ASR launch and framed it as the largest in history, which drew buying interest and headlines boosting sentiment around Salesforce’s AI-led growth strategy paired with a large capital-return program. Salesforce commences $25B share buyback amid AI growth focus — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Independent coverage reports the stock climbed on the historic $25B ASR launch, amplifying momentum from the buyback news. Blockonomi — Salesforce Stock Climbs on Historic $25B ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Notable value investors showed interest in recent quarters, with coverage noting portfolio purchases (e.g., Bill Nygren) that can lend credibility to the long case. 247WallSt — Bill Nygren Bought These Value Gems
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and retail interest pieces note heavy search and discussion around CRM and summarize bullish theses from forums and retail research — useful for gauging retail momentum but not a direct catalyst. Zacks — Investors Heavily Search Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces recap bullish value arguments and forum-based theses on whether CRM is a buy; these provide context but largely echo the buyback and AI-growth story. Yahoo Finance — Is Salesforce A Good Stock To Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan published an options-focused piece outlining trading strategies around geopolitical uncertainty (Iran) that references CRM as an options play; this is tactical market commentary rather than fundamental company news. Seeking Alpha — J.P. Morgan Options Play

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $198.13 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $296.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $209.31 and a 200 day moving average of $234.58. 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 $182.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

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

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.

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.