Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $7.05 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 155.5% in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to $7.05 million with 26,262 shares.
• Salesforce reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, and saw revenue of $10.24 billion, an increase of 9.8% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, representing a 0.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 24.13%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 155.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 15,985 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. 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 acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the 1st 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 valued at $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,419,037,000 after buying an additional 437,435 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after buying an additional 602,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.66, for a total value of $554,985.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,938,108,102.86. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,577 shares of company stock valued at $18,005,778. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:CRM traded down $3.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $242.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,382,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,981,092. The stock has a market cap of $231.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $253.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 24.13%.

About Salesforce

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.