Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,966 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,829,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after acquiring an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 28.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,188,666,000 after acquiring an additional 2,561,923 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Trading Up 1.8%
Shares of CRM stock opened at $217.35 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $236.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $178.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.
Salesforce News Summary
Investors following CRM have been watching these news items:
- Positive Sentiment: Missionforce National Security received “Awardable” status in a federal solutions marketplace, giving Department of War organizations access to Salesforce’s recruiting capabilities. This could support government-sector opportunities, though the immediate financial impact is unclear. Missionforce National Security Achieves Awardable Status
- Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlighted Salesforce’s value-stock characteristics and argued its shares may be undervalued, while noting that leverage concerns persist. Salesforce Stock Looks Undervalued Even As Leverage Concerns Linger
- Negative Sentiment: S&P cut Salesforce’s credit rating to A, citing concerns linked to deals and the company’s planned $25 billion buyback. The downgrade spotlights potential balance-sheet and capital-allocation risks. Salesforce Sinks as S&P Cuts Its Rating to A on Deals and a $25 Billion Buyback
About Salesforce
Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based software company best known for customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Its platform helps businesses manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce and customer data, and includes products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud and Agentforce. The company also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data analytics and visualization, and MuleSoft for connecting applications and data. Salesforce’s products are used by organizations across a range of industries and are available to customers around the world.
Featured Stories
- Five stocks we like better than Salesforce
- Keeping AI Cool: AAON Rides the AI Heatwave to Record Growth
- AST SpaceMobile Has a New Rocket Plan, But Its Cash-Burn Problem Isn’t Going Away
- Powering Up the Moon: Redwire’s $40 Million NASA Award
- Can Constellation Energy’s Contracts Power a Stock Rebound?
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Salesforce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Salesforce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
