Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases 49,874 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management increased its Salesforce stake by 13.7% in Q4, buying 49,874 shares and bringing its total position to 415,202 shares worth about $110 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $3.88 beating estimates and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
• The company continues to return capital to shareholders through a $25 billion buyback program and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $257.97.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 415,202 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 49,874 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 0.7% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $109,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $185.85 on Monday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $276.80. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $181.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.71. The company has a market cap of $152.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue 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, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.97.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a landmark partnership with FIFA for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup, which could showcase its AI-driven Agentforce 360 platform to a massive global audience and potentially drive future enterprise demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating and a $290 price target on Salesforce, while modeling earnings above consensus for FY2027, signaling continued analyst confidence in the company’s profit growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Salesforce’s strong momentum, helped by its AI strategy, Agentforce rollout, recurring revenue base, and expanding free cash flow, which may keep long-term investors interested. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s presentation at the Evercore Global TMT Conference and valuation-focused coverage suggest investors are still reassessing how much of the AI and Agentforce optimism is already priced in. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bridgewater Associates reportedly sold Salesforce, which can pressure sentiment in the near term, although the article argues that institutional selling may create a better entry point for patient investors. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

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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