78,231 Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Bought by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its Salesforce stake by 631.4% during the third quarter, acquiring 78,231 additional shares for a total of 90,622 shares valued at approximately $20.8 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce, while the stock recently traded at $248.79, near its 52-week high of $269.11. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $278.98.
• Salesforce exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.90 in EPS versus the $3.27 consensus estimate and $11.35 billion in revenue, up 10.8% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 631.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,622 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 78,231 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Salesforce by 130.2% in the 1st 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 bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,914,086,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $844,928,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $248.79 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price of $236.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.88. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. 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 forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related 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 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 $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. CLSA began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI products are reportedly growing at triple-digit rates, while its Agentforce platform and more than $14 billion in annual free cash flow could support profitable expansion. The company’s valuation may look attractive if AI adoption accelerates. Salesforce Is Betting Big on AI. The Payoff Could Be Bigger Than Investors Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “Overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in Salesforce’s growth outlook and AI transition. Salesforce Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: The $5.66 billion Braze purchase could expand Salesforce’s customer-engagement capabilities and strengthen its push from AI defense toward a broader autonomous-agent strategy. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons with Adobe, Arista Networks and Snowflake highlight Salesforce’s CRM leadership, focus on profitable growth and AI-agent pivot, but do not represent new company-specific developments. Salesforce vs. Snowflake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be concerned that the Braze acquisition’s $5.66 billion price will increase integration risk and pressure near-term returns. Questions about contracts, pricing and customer impact could temper enthusiasm for the deal. Salesforce to Buy Braze for $5.66B

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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