Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $375.62 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.7% to 1,417,447 shares, owning $375,619,000 of CRM stock (about 0.15% of Salesforce and the firm's 17th largest holding).
• Salesforce topped expectations with EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 and revenue of $11.20 billion (up 12.1% year-over-year), and set FY 2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190.
• The board approved a $25.00 billion share buyback (up to 14.1% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44 ($1.76 annualized, ~0.9% yield).

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,417,447 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 63,777 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 0.6% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.15% of Salesforce worth $375,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 159.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 285.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,568,000 after buying an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,753,519,000 after buying an additional 1,729,440 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $187.17 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $296.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired 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. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.18.

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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