Atom Investors LP grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 75.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,870 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,655 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 1.1% of Atom Investors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors increased its position 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 last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Salesforce by 924.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,028,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504,605 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Salesforce by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $484,852,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Key Stories Impacting Salesforce
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is deepening its push into agentic AI by acquiring Fin, an AI customer-service platform that handles queries across chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, phone and Slack. Investors are viewing the deal as a strategic step that could strengthen Salesforce’s position in the fast-growing AI automation market. Reuters article
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts at firms including Wedbush, Canaccord Genuity and Needham reaffirmed bullish views, with price targets well above the current share price, suggesting Wall Street sees meaningful upside if Salesforce’s AI strategy gains traction. Benzinga article
- Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Salesforce’s strong cash generation, rising margins and a $50 billion buyback plan is supporting the investment case by highlighting its ability to fund acquisitions while still returning capital to shareholders. Yahoo Finance article
- Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush said the Fin purchase shows Salesforce is moving faster than expected to secure the AI agent market, but investors are still waiting to see whether these acquisitions translate into faster revenue growth and better returns. Proactive Investors article
- Negative Sentiment: Some coverage is focusing on Salesforce’s steep share-price decline over the past year and the concern that its acquisition-heavy strategy has not yet restored investor confidence, keeping pressure on CRM stock. Invezz article
Salesforce Trading Down 1.7%
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.26.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce
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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