Railway Pension Investments Ltd Has $63.13 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its Salesforce stake by 1,115.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 238,300 shares valued at about $63.1 million.
• Other major institutional holders also increased exposure, and overall 80.43% of Salesforce shares are owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Salesforce reported a strong quarter with EPS of $3.88 and revenue of $11.13 billion, both topping expectations, while analysts now rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a target price of $257.97.

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1,115.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,300 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 218,700 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $63,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,800,353,000 after buying an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $11,732,966,000 after purchasing an additional 159,739 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $5,751,073,000 after purchasing an additional 791,345 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,753,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,440 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $257.97.

Salesforce Stock Up 8.4%

Salesforce stock opened at $191.00 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $276.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $180.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

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

More 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

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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