ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Increases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,495 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.1% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,944,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Salesforce by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 897,917 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $212,806,000 after acquiring an additional 260,710 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Salesforce by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 182,428 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $43,235,000 after acquiring an additional 39,600 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,365,000 after acquiring an additional 3,491 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations raised its stake in Salesforce by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations now owns 43,767 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,373,000 after acquiring an additional 7,610 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.4%

CRM stock opened at $166.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.31 and a twelve month high of $276.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Salesforce from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.26.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s Agentforce annual recurring revenue has surged to $1.2 billion, up 205% year over year, suggesting its AI push is gaining real traction and could support longer-term growth. Salesforce’s AI Business Is Growing More Than 200%, but the Stock Is Near a 52-Week Low. Something Has to Give.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter should help expand usage-based AI revenue by improving metering and billing for Agentforce and other AI products, which may open new monetization opportunities. Salesforce m3ter Deal Highlights Shift Toward Usage Based AI Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic has risen to about $5 billion highlight its strategic exposure to a leading AI startup and reinforce the company’s commitment to AI investment. Salesforce’s Anthropic Stake Reportedly Reaches $5 Billion as AI Startup Eyes IPO, Bloomberg Reports
• Neutral Sentiment: TitanX expanded its Salesforce integration with automated phone intent scoring and contact enrichment, which is incremental ecosystem news but not likely to move CRM shares by itself. TitanX Expands Salesforce and HubSpot Integrations with Automated Phone Intent™ Scoring and Contact Enrichment
• Negative Sentiment: Several recent articles note that Salesforce stock is still sliding, near a 52-week low, and that investors remain skeptical despite AI growth, reflecting ongoing valuation and execution concerns. Our Salesforce Stock Pick Has Flopped. We’re Moving On.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader cloud-stock weakness, highlighted by Oracle’s sharp decline after earnings, is adding sector pressure that can weigh on Salesforce even when company-specific news is positive. Oracle Plunges 10% After Earnings, Salesforce Slips Near 52-Week Lows as Cloud Stocks Slide

Salesforce 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.