Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Takes $265.40 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. has acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc., purchasing 988,971 shares worth approximately $265.4 million, making it the firm’s 8th largest position.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Salesforce, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $341.50.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Marc Benioff selling 2,250 shares at an average price of $255.30, while 61,577 shares have been sold by corporate insiders in the past ninety days.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 988,971 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $265,400,000. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.1% of Alyeska Investment Group L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.10% of Salesforce at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% in the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% in the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 1,112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 66,077 shares of company stock worth $16,885,773 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.6%

NYSE CRM traded up $6.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.40. 13,010,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,763,446. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $239.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.34.

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.