Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 180,243 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 3.8% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 180,243 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 4.87 million shares valued at about $1.31 billion.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce for $545,490, reducing his ownership slightly while the company experienced insider transactions with a total of 51,032 shares sold worth over $13 million in the last ninety days.
• Salesforce has received mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $342.89, despite some analysts dropping their price targets amid market fluctuations.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,869,586 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 180,243 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Salesforce worth $1,311,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.44, for a total value of $545,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,887,841,273.24. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,032 shares of company stock valued at $13,171,536. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CRM opened at $245.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $258.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.75.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $342.89.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.

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