Amundi Trims Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Salesforce stake by 8% in the second quarter, selling 294,196 shares and retaining 3.37 million shares valued at approximately $528.3 million. Institutional investors still own about 80.4% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 analyst consensus.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $266.50 target price, while Salesforce declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.

Amundi reduced its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,371,997 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 294,196 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.41% of Salesforce worth $528,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Synergy Financial Group LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the third quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 199 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $259.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.49.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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