Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Makes New $116.02 Million Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR opened a new position in Salesforce, buying 437,808 shares valued at about $116.0 million in the fourth quarter.
• Salesforce recently reported strong fiscal Q1 results, with revenue up 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88, both above estimates.
• The company is seeing mixed Wall Street sentiment: analysts remain generally positive, but several trimmed price targets, while Salesforce also announced a $25 billion buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 437,808 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $116,016,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 285.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $257.97.

Insider Activity

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

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat fiscal Q1 expectations, with revenue rising 13% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS of $3.88 topping estimates, reinforcing that demand remains healthy. CRM Q1 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on ARR Milestone
• Positive Sentiment: The company said Agentforce annual recurring revenue crossed $1 billion and lifted FY2027 revenue guidance, suggesting its AI products are starting to contribute meaningfully to growth. Salesforce raises FY 2027 revenue guide to $45.9B-$46.2B while launching $25B accelerated share repurchase
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase program and highlighted $6.6 billion in free cash flow, signaling strong cash generation and shareholder returns. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: New customer and partner headlines, including CVS Health expanding use of Salesforce’s Agentforce Health, support the view that the company’s AI platform is gaining traction. CVS Health to Deliver Faster, More Personalized Call Center Care for Millions of Members with Salesforce's Agentforce Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, but many trimmed price targets after the report, reflecting a more cautious stance on near-term upside. Salesforce Q1 Results 'Uninspiring': 'Nothing To Dispel The AI Threat Narrative'
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were disappointed by Q2 revenue guidance, which came in slightly below expectations, keeping the stock under pressure despite the earnings beat. CRM Stock Dips After-Hours As Q2 Revenue Outlook Marginally Misses Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary continues to focus on the risk that AI agents could eventually disrupt Salesforce’s core revenue model, which is weighing on sentiment. Analyst warns Salesforce has an AI problem

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $180.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $276.80.

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. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $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, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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