Rathbones Group PLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.3% in Q3, buying an additional 106,513 shares to hold 801,693 shares worth about $190 million (≈0.08% of the company) per its latest 13F filing.
• Fundamental catalysts are improving: Salesforce beat quarterly EPS ($3.81 vs. $3.05) on record $11.20B revenue, announced a $50 billion buyback and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, actions that have lifted investor sentiment.
• Multiple large institutions either initiated or materially expanded positions—Norges Bank (~$2.83B new stake), Amundi (~$2.09B), Laurel Wealth (to ~$934M after a massive increase), Acadian and Generation Investment—helping drive institutional ownership to about 80%.

Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 801,693 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 106,513 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.08% of Salesforce worth $190,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $933,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Salesforce by 26.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and market reaction — Salesforce reported an earnings beat and record revenue, and the stock has rebounded from recent lows as investors appear to be looking past worst‑case AI fears. This is the main driver of improving sentiment. Salesforce: A Week After Earnings, the Market Has Spoken
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback and cash flow strength — Analysts highlight a meaningful free cash flow beat and Salesforce’s announcement of a massive $50B buyback, which can materially support share price and EPS over time. Salesforce: AI Disruption Fears Create Mispricing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish price targets — Multiple firms have reiterated or raised ratings (e.g., Phillip Securities maintained a Buy with a $253 target), helping lift investor confidence. Upgrades/price‑target moves are directly supportive of the rally. Phillip Securities Maintains a Buy on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum and partnerships — New AI initiatives (Agentforce) and a Formula 1 fan‑agent rollout show tangible go‑to‑market AI use cases that support long‑term monetization of AI features. Salesforce Inc. (CRM) Leverages AI to Transform Fan and Customer Engagement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry writeups highlight momentum and valuation — Several outlets (Zacks) list Salesforce among software names positioned to benefit from a sector recovery; these articles boost visibility but provide less immediate price impact than earnings or buybacks. The Software Recovery Already Started: 5 Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Geographic expansion — Reports noting the Philippines as a fast‑growing market signal incremental revenue opportunities but are less likely to move the stock near term. Philippines fastest-growing market for Salesforce in Southeast Asia
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing AI disruption and valuation concerns — Despite improving signals, investors remain wary that AI could compress demand or enable lower‑cost competitors; the stock still reflects a material YTD and 1‑year decline, keeping downside risk present. Is Salesforce (CRM) Pricing Reflect Its Cash Flow Outlook After Recent Share Price Weakness

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $202.04 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Arete Research raised Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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