3,006 Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Simplify Asset Management Inc.

Simplify Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,414 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,006 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Salesforce by 130.2% in 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. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $844,928,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $242.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $199.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $237.98 and a 200-day moving average of $199.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Usage-based AI billing could improve monetization. Salesforce plans to begin charging customers based on the volume of AI-agent calls in November, moving beyond a purely seat-based model. New Agent Fabric tools for testing, evaluation and cost controls may help customers adopt agents and give Salesforce a clearer path to growing AI revenue. Salesforce Brings In Usage Based AI Billing With New Agent Fabric Controls
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce is strengthening the generative-AI investment case. Recent commentary points to improving Agentforce traction and supports the view that Salesforce can use its large customer base to commercialize AI capabilities, potentially accelerating growth beyond its core customer-management software. Agentforce Growth Strengthens Salesforce’s Generative AI Narrative
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and valuation coverage remains generally constructive. Zacks describes CRM as a highly ranked growth stock, while other analysis argues the shares look inexpensive relative to Salesforce’s earnings power. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed strong earnings, revenue growth and profitability, supporting the bullish case. Salesforce Stock Looks Cheap Relative To Its Earnings Power
• Neutral Sentiment: Product expansion adds ecosystem value. Fastcall launched mobile calling and SMS integrations for Salesforce on iPhone and Android, broadening customer-engagement functionality, although the third-party announcement is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Fastcall Launches Fastcall Mobile
• Negative Sentiment: Recent volatility reflects execution and valuation concerns. CRM fell in the previous session even as the broader market advanced, suggesting investors remain cautious about whether AI growth will offset slower underlying growth and justify the stock’s valuation. The shift to usage-based pricing also introduces uncertainty around revenue predictability and customer adoption.

Salesforce 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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