Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 23,308 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 747,535 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,308 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.2% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $203,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE CRM opened at $245.93 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $234.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $246.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,872 shares of company stock worth $17,257,913. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Northland Capmk downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $264.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

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.