NBT Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,044,000.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% during 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. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $1,914,086,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Salesforce Trading Up 3.6%
Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $250.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $235.24 and a 200 day moving average of $196.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Guggenheim raised their target price on Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays cut shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Three 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, adding real-time consumer-event processing and marketing capabilities that could strengthen Marketing Cloud and support its Agentforce AI strategy. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
- Positive Sentiment: UBS described the deal as a strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing offering and accelerate consolidation across the software industry. Salesforce’s Braze deal wins UBS backing on strategy, but growth concerns remain
- Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and set a $300 price target, implying further upside based on Salesforce’s AI, data and customer-engagement opportunities. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce rating
- Neutral Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a selective rebound in enterprise software names that had been pressured by artificial-intelligence disruption fears. Salesforce has substantially outperformed the broader market over the past six months, raising expectations that improving growth and AI monetization are already influencing investor sentiment. Adobe Jumps as Software Names Rebound
- Negative Sentiment: The all-cash purchase represents a sizable commitment and carries a 58% premium to Braze’s value. Analysts cautioned that Salesforce still must demonstrate stronger organic growth, realize synergies and secure antitrust clearance; those concerns initially pressured the shares after the announcement. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
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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