11,053 Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its Salesforce stake by 333.6% in the third quarter, purchasing 11,053 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 14,366 shares valued at approximately $3.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of CRM.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Salesforce carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $278.12, although some firms recently downgraded the stock.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, including $5.90 in adjusted EPS versus the $3.27 consensus estimate and 10.8% year-over-year revenue growth. Investors remain focused on whether the company’s AI investments will generate sustained growth and profits.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 333.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,366 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,053 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,265,000. TAM Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $40,945,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,004,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,125 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Barclays cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.12.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and AI acquisition support sentiment: Bank of America reportedly issued a rare double upgrade, arguing that Salesforce’s AI offerings could deepen customer dependence on its platform. The bullish call followed Salesforce’s agreement to acquire AI-powered analytics platform Loops, which could strengthen its data and analytics capabilities. Salesforce Gets a Rare BofA Double Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Technical setup points to additional upside: A weekly bullish reversal, daily double-bottom pattern and potential bullish-flag breakout suggest the post-breakout pullback may be ending, according to technical analysis. Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded DocuSign partnership adds an AI workflow catalyst: DocuSign’s Intelligent Agreement Management platform will be integrated natively with Salesforce, Agentforce and Slack, potentially increasing the usefulness of Salesforce’s AI agents for revenue teams. DocuSign and Salesforce Launch Intelligent Agreement Management
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative valuation looks favorable: One comparison with ServiceNow concluded Salesforce has stronger earnings estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation, although investors still need evidence that those advantages will translate into sustained growth. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Negative Sentiment: AI monetization remains the key overhang: Despite earnings beats, skeptics question whether agentic AI can materially improve Salesforce’s profits. Reports also highlight AI cannibalization risks and note that many customers have not yet adopted a potentially important upgrade, leaving investors cautious about near-term revenue acceleration. Agentic AI Skepticism

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $235.95 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $229.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The company has a market capitalization of $194.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. The firm'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. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company's product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.

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