Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its Salesforce stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 8,182 additional shares and bringing its total position to 420,044 shares worth about $111.3 million.
• Salesforce recently reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.88, both ahead of estimates.
• The company also highlighted AI and shareholder-return initiatives, including Agentforce annual recurring revenue above $1 billion, a raised FY2027 outlook, a $25 billion share repurchase program, and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 420,044 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 8,182 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $111,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Mathes Company Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,976,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price target on Salesforce from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.97.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $191.00 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $276.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.77 and a 200 day moving average of $210.58. The company has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company 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 company earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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