AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Acquires 4,775 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 127.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,527 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $589,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,117 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $431,157,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,753,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $173.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.65. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $292.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce’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. Analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.82.

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.