Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management cut its Salesforce stake by 19% in the fourth quarter, selling 135,262 shares and leaving it with 576,985 shares valued at about $152.8 million.
• Salesforce reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.88 beating estimates and revenue of $11.13 billion rising 13.3% year over year. The company also raised guidance and said Agentforce annual recurring revenue topped $1 billion.
• Salesforce’s board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program, and two directors recently bought shares, signaling insider confidence. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $257.97.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 576,985 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 135,262 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Salesforce worth $152,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,085,000 after buying an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the third quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $44,336,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $113,420,000 after buying an additional 61,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% during the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $66,610,000 after buying an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.58. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce's 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.97.

Key Salesforce News

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

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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