Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 82.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,023,936 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 463,611 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $191,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $152.45 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $176.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Macquarie Infrastructure dropped their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.61.

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.