Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 360,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,194 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $95,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America initiated coverage on Salesforce with an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, implying downside from current levels. The call raised concerns that the company’s AI narrative may be losing momentum and appears to be the most stock-moving headline for CRM today. Benzinga report on Bank of America coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Another market note highlighted Salesforce among software laggards that have been hit by broad sector selling, reinforcing the idea that investors remain cautious on the stock despite AI-related growth potential. Zacks commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate analysis argued that Salesforce may still be attractive versus Oracle because of its steadier growth profile and cheaper valuation, offering a counterpoint to the bearish broker view. Zacks comparison article
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also continued promoting the company’s AI efforts, saying Slack AI can surface employee concerns and decisions, which supports the long-term AI story but is not an immediate catalyst. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also received a bullish longer-term mention as one of several AI-powered software laggards that could offer short-term upside, suggesting some investors still see value after the selloff. Zacks AI-powered laggards article

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $179.39 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $289.90. 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 stock has a market cap of $146.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.85.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.