Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Grows Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,045 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,419,037,000 after purchasing an additional 437,435 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,707,316,000 after purchasing an additional 295,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $254.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $246.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.17. The firm has a market cap of $242.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $582,772.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,216,004.71. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,424,880 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.