KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• KBC Group increased its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in Q4, buying 11,195 shares to hold 1,096,216 shares worth about $290.4 million, making Salesforce its 22nd-largest holding and roughly 0.7% of KBC's portfolio.
• $25 billion stock buyback approved by Salesforce's board (authorizing repurchases of up to ~14.1% of shares), alongside a raised quarterly dividend to $0.44 and a Q report that beat expectations with $3.81 EPS on $11.20 billion revenue and FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190.
• Insiders bought shares: Directors David Blair Kirk and Laura Alber each purchased about 2,570 shares at ~ $194.60, boosting insider ownership to 3.0%, while institutional investors hold roughly 80.4% of the stock.

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,096,216 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 11,195 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 0.7% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. KBC Group NV owned about 0.12% of Salesforce worth $290,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% during the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.1% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 961 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $177.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $163.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $188.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.87. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

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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