Capital International Sarl Boosts Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Capital International Sarl increased its Salesforce stake by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 72,232 more shares and bringing its total to 254,184 shares worth about $67.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive, with Salesforce holding a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.97, even as several analysts trimmed targets recently.
• Salesforce reported a strong latest quarter, posting $3.88 EPS versus the $3.13 estimate and $11.13 billion in revenue, while also announcing a $25 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Capital International Sarl increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 254,184 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 72,232 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.1% of Capital International Sarl's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Salesforce were worth $67,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.97.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $185.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $181.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.90. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $276.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Salesforce News

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 Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 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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