Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,045,223 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 176,806 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $541,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

Salesforce stock opened at $185.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $276.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced a landmark partnership with FIFA for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup, which could showcase its AI-driven Agentforce 360 platform to a massive global audience and potentially drive future enterprise demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp kept an Overweight rating and a $290 price target on Salesforce, while modeling earnings above consensus for FY2027, signaling continued analyst confidence in the company’s profit growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Salesforce’s strong momentum, helped by its AI strategy, Agentforce rollout, recurring revenue base, and expanding free cash flow, which may keep long-term investors interested. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s presentation at the Evercore Global TMT Conference and valuation-focused coverage suggest investors are still reassessing how much of the AI and Agentforce optimism is already priced in. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Bridgewater Associates reportedly sold Salesforce, which can pressure sentiment in the near term, although the article argues that institutional selling may create a better entry point for patient investors. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.97.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 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.