Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its Salesforce stake by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 3,000 additional shares and bringing its total to 263,519 shares worth about $69.8 million.
• Salesforce recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $3.88 EPS versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, while also lifting its guidance for FY 2027 and Q2 2027.
• The company remains supported by major investors and shareholder-friendly actions, including a $25 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, even as several analysts trimmed price targets and the stock traded down 0.7%.

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,519 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 0.6% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Salesforce were worth $69,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $11,732,966,000 after purchasing an additional 159,739 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after purchasing an additional 791,345 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 9.4% in the third 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 period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position 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 period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.47.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:CRM opened at $176.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $276.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.72. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company'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. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought 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 owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This 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.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

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.

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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