Salesforce Inc. $CRM is Gifford Fong Associates' 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Gifford Fong Associates increased its Salesforce stake by 15.9% in Q4, buying 10,000 more shares to bring its position to 73,009 shares worth about $19.3 million. Salesforce is now the fund’s 4th largest holding.
• Salesforce reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.88 beating estimates and revenue rising 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion. The company also raised guidance for FY2027 and Q2 2027.
• The board approved a $25 billion share repurchase program, and Salesforce also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share. These moves highlight management’s confidence in the business and its cash generation.

Gifford Fong Associates lifted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,009 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 3.9% of Gifford Fong Associates' investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Gifford Fong Associates' holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 10,633 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 61,270 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 83,403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $191.00 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $180.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.36. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.52 and a twelve month high of $276.80. The firm has a market cap of $156.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm'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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 paid 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 is presently 20.37%.

Key Stories Impacting 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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson cut their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.97.

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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