iA Global Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 157.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,350 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,356 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 600,386 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,419,037,000 after buying an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,707,316,000 after buying an additional 295,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $260.55 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.08.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.56, for a total value of $559,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,960,740,087.76. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,372,928. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Salesforce

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.