20,070 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM Acquired by RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.

Key Points

• RWQ Financial Management Services acquired 20,070 Salesforce shares worth approximately $4.6 million in the third quarter, making CRM a 2.6% portfolio holding. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, exceeding the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, or a 0.7% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $278.40, although ratings range from strong buy to strong sell. CRM recently traded at $242.35, below the consensus target.

RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,070 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,607,000. Salesforce comprises approximately 2.6% of RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $242.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,886,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,494,459. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $231.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce'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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired 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 owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.40.

Salesforce Company Profile

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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