Sapient Capital LLC lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 55.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,728 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Salesforce Stock Down 1.9%
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce’s 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.
Salesforce News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
- Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Phillip Securities downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.50.
Salesforce Company Profile
Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.
Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.
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