168,901 Shares in Salesforce Inc. $CRM Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• The Virginia Retirement Systems ET Al acquired 168,901 shares of Salesforce Inc., valued at approximately $46,058,000, marking a significant investment during the second quarter.
• Salesforce reported $2.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 9.8% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416, amounting to an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a dividend payout ratio of 24.13%.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 168,901 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,058,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 buying an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after buying an additional 600,386 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,419,037,000 after purchasing an additional 437,435 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,707,316,000 after buying an additional 295,681 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $243.27 on Friday. 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 cap of $231.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average price is $244.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.77. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total transaction of $536,332.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,839,361,179.27. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,521,495 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.