Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac Invests $24.46 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter, purchasing 98,042 shares worth about $24.46 million. The position makes Salesforce its 9th-largest holding and about 1.8% of its portfolio.
• Salesforce recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year. The company also raised guidance and said Agentforce annual recurring revenue surpassed $1 billion.
• The company approved a $25 billion share buyback and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share payable on July 2, signaling capital returns to shareholders. Analyst views remain mostly positive, with an average rating of Moderate Buy despite some recent price-target cuts.

Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 98,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,464,000. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.8% of Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd 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 acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Salesforce by 285.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,842,117 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 9.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,729,440 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $176.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.72. The stock has a market cap of $144.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $259.47.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates, raised full-year profit guidance, and said Agentforce ARR passed $1 billion, reinforcing momentum in its AI strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a $25 billion accelerated buyback, which should provide direct support to shareholder returns and may help limit downside.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remained constructive, with firms like Wedbush, Piper Sandler, Cantor Fitzgerald, and B. Riley reiterating bullish ratings and high price targets despite trimming estimates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and other banks lowered price targets modestly, but most still kept neutral-to-positive views, suggesting the Street is resetting expectations rather than turning outright bearish.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock is being held back by slightly light revenue guidance and continued investor concern that AI competition could pressure Salesforce’s growth profile over time.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce 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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