7,909 Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Brookstone Capital Management

Key Points

• Brookstone Capital Management reduced its Salesforce stake by 8.8%, selling 7,909 shares during the third quarter and retaining 82,053 shares valued at approximately $18.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce agreed to acquire Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash to expand its marketing and real-time customer-engagement capabilities and support its Agentforce AI strategy. Analysts cited strategic benefits but warned about the 58% premium, execution risks and the need for stronger organic growth.
• Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, well above expectations. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $278.98, while the stock recently opened at $250.37.

Brookstone Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,053 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 7,909 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV increased its position in Salesforce by 0.7% during the third quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 6,422 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the third quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 3,396 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,714 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,312,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.6% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, adding real-time consumer-event processing and marketing capabilities that could strengthen Marketing Cloud and support its Agentforce AI strategy. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: UBS described the deal as a strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing offering and accelerate consolidation across the software industry. Salesforce's Braze deal wins UBS backing on strategy, but growth concerns remain
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and set a $300 price target, implying further upside based on Salesforce’s AI, data and customer-engagement opportunities. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce rating
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a selective rebound in enterprise software names that had been pressured by artificial-intelligence disruption fears. Salesforce has substantially outperformed the broader market over the past six months, raising expectations that improving growth and AI monetization are already influencing investor sentiment. Adobe Jumps as Software Names Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: The all-cash purchase represents a sizable commitment and carries a 58% premium to Braze’s value. Analysts cautioned that Salesforce still must demonstrate stronger organic growth, realize synergies and secure antitrust clearance; those concerns initially pressured the shares after the announcement. Salesforce's $5.6B Braze Buyout

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $250.37 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $269.11. The company has a market cap of $206.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $235.24 and a 200-day moving average of $196.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. The firm'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 fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

About Salesforce

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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