AMF Tjanstepension AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB trimmed its Salesforce stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 40,940 shares and ending with 923,323 shares worth about $244.6 million.
• Salesforce recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $3.81 EPS on $11.20 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.44 and authorizing a $25 billion share buyback.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: Bank of America initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $160 target, even as the broader consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $274.56.

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 923,323 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 40,940 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.5% of AMF Tjanstepension AB's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned 0.10% of Salesforce worth $244,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 285.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,440 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.56.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.4%

Salesforce stock opened at $179.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $146.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $289.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $183.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage on Salesforce with an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, implying downside from current levels. The call raised concerns that the company’s AI narrative may be losing momentum and appears to be the most stock-moving headline for CRM today. Benzinga report on Bank of America coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Another market note highlighted Salesforce among software laggards that have been hit by broad sector selling, reinforcing the idea that investors remain cautious on the stock despite AI-related growth potential. Zacks commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate analysis argued that Salesforce may still be attractive versus Oracle because of its steadier growth profile and cheaper valuation, offering a counterpoint to the bearish broker view. Zacks comparison article
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also continued promoting the company’s AI efforts, saying Slack AI can surface employee concerns and decisions, which supports the long-term AI story but is not an immediate catalyst. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also received a bullish longer-term mention as one of several AI-powered software laggards that could offer short-term upside, suggesting some investors still see value after the selloff. Zacks AI-powered laggards article

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.

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