Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management reduced its Salesforce stake by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,751 shares and leaving it with 247,826 shares valued at about $65.7 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 expected and revenue of $11.20 billion, while also guiding for FY2027 EPS and announcing a $25 billion share repurchase program.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $279.18, though some firms have recently lowered targets and a few have cut ratings.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 247,826 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 27,751 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $65,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% during the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,753,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $181.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.52 and a 52-week high of $296.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $186.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.91.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Operations, a new tool designed to automate complex enterprise workflows, and rising adoption of its Agentforce AI platform is helping reinforce the company’s AI growth story. Salesforce AI Shift Agentforce Operations Links Product Adoption To Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is also bringing Agentforce Sales to ChatGPT, which could expand the reach of its AI-driven CRM tools and support adoption with enterprise customers.
• Positive Sentiment: A new revenue reporting structure beginning in FY27 is intended to align disclosures more closely with Salesforce’s AI-led strategy, potentially making it easier for investors to track how AI products are contributing to growth. Salesforce Inc’s (CRM) New Reporting Structure To Give Better Insights Into AI Driven Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party coverage continues to frame CRM as an AI and big-data beneficiary, with analysts highlighting Salesforce as a play on surging analytics demand and enterprise AI adoption. Top Big Data Stocks Powering the AI Boom as Analytics Demand Surges
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compare Salesforce with HubSpot and discuss its competitive position in CRM, but these pieces are more strategic than immediately market-moving.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage also raises a leadership succession question around Marc Benioff, which could create some overhang if investors become more focused on long-term governance and continuity risk. Beyond Benioff: Is Salesforce Ready for Life Without Its Founder?
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has also been reported as falling in recent trading, suggesting investors may still be cautious despite the company’s AI initiatives.

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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