Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 55,704 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4%, buying 55,704 shares in Q4 and now owning 2,356,075 shares (about 0.25% of the company) valued at roughly $624.1 million.
• Salesforce's board authorized a $25 billion stock buyback, allowing repurchases of up to ~14.1% of shares — a major capital-return move that has drawn both support and scrutiny over leverage and growth priorities.
• Salesforce beat quarter expectations and raised shareholder returns, reporting $3.81 EPS on $11.20 billion revenue, setting FY2027 EPS guidance of $13.11–$13.19, and increasing the quarterly dividend to $0.44.

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,356,075 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 55,704 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.25% of Salesforce worth $624,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 27,192 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $7,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 221,576 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $58,710,000 after purchasing an additional 32,517 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 7,898 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,068 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Panoramic Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $195.14 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $203.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 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. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.57 and a fifty-two week high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce'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, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.21.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-level buyback signal — Coverage highlights a record-sized repurchase program (previously reported at ~$50B at the board level), which investors interpret as management saying the shares are undervalued and that EPS should be supported as shares are retired. Salesforce (CRM) Valuation Check As Record US$50b Buyback Signals Confidence In Long-Term Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying by directors — Two directors (including Laura Alber) recently bought ~2,570 shares each at ~\$194.6, which often reads as management putting personal capital behind the stock. Insider Buying: Salesforce NYSE: CRM Director Buys 2,571 Shares of Stock
• Positive Sentiment: AI/product narrative remains supportive — Coverage of Salesforce’s agentic AI and Data Cloud pushes reinforces the growth thesis if bookings and enterprise adoption accelerate. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Expands AI Strategy As Dow Jones Industrials Average Reacts
• Neutral Sentiment: Execution/architecture critique — Analysts and commentary (e.g., Seeking Alpha) argue AI itself isn’t the core problem but that Salesforce’s architecture and integration/execution could limit how quickly AI features translate to sustainable revenue growth. Salesforce: AI Is Not The Problem, Architecture Is
• Negative Sentiment: Debt-funded buyback raises leverage concerns — CNBC reports Salesforce issued \$25B of debt to fund buybacks; that increases financial leverage and raises questions about prioritizing buybacks over organic reinvestment. Salesforce issues $25 billion in debt to buy back stock. Should we be concerned?
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback prompts scepticism about growth allocation — Coverage (e.g., 247WallStreet) questions whether heavy buybacks mask weaker organic growth opportunities and could cap upside if sales momentum stalls. A $50 Billion Buyback Is Raising Questions About Salesforce’s Growth Story
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims — Several firms pared price targets after earnings/guidance, keeping sell-side sentiment mixed and possibly limiting near-term upside. MarketBeat: Salesforce company summary & earnings

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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