Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 24,503 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,625,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.9% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $844,928,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Key Stories Impacting Salesforce
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Braze could strengthen Agentforce and Marketing Cloud. Salesforce will acquire Braze for $47.50 per share in cash, a roughly 58% premium, adding real-time customer-behavior data, engagement tools and approximately 2,770 enterprise customers. The technology may help Agentforce AI agents respond instantly across mobile, web and messaging channels, rather than relying on slower batch data. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300 price target, implying substantial upside from recent levels. Jefferies said the deal could improve Salesforce’s marketing capabilities and encourage broader consolidation in software. Jefferies on Salesforce’s Braze Deal
- Positive Sentiment: AI spending and Salesforce’s data strategy provide longer-term catalysts. Coverage highlights the possibility of a multiyear AI investment cycle, while Salesforce’s Informatica and Braze assets could improve its enterprise-data advantage. Its strong margins, cash generation and ongoing buyback program provide financial support for the strategy. Informatica Boosts Salesforce’s Data Edge
- Neutral Sentiment: Valuation screens are improving. Zacks ranks Salesforce as a top value stock, and recent coverage points to a rebound in growth driven by rising demand for its AI and data products. However, the value argument depends on sustained execution and monetization. Salesforce Is a Top-Ranked Value Stock
- Negative Sentiment: The Braze deal raises acquisition and integration concerns. Investors are concerned that Salesforce is paying a large premium for a company that remains unprofitable, while deploying $5.66 billion in cash could pressure returns before the deal generates synergies. Antitrust review, customer retention and the integration of separate data architectures add further uncertainty. Salesforce Announces Braze Acquisition
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $241.71. 1,947,982 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,433,197. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $233.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.68.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 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 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Barclays downgraded Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CRM
About Salesforce
Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.
The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.
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