ARGA Investment Management LP Sells 409,937 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

ARGA Investment Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 93.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,973 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 409,937 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $610,974,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta, adding technology aimed at customer-service operations and strengthening its AI offerings. The deal supports the company’s push to monetize AI, though its price and expected financial contribution are not detailed in the announcement. Salesforce announces Cresta acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison of recent quarterly revenue trends says Salesforce has delivered steadier, more consistent expansion than IBM, a positive signal for the predictability of its business. Salesforce versus IBM revenue comparison
• Negative Sentiment: The Cresta agreement is reportedly Salesforce’s fifth major acquisition this year, and coverage highlighted concerns about the roughly $2.7 billion AI deal and the company’s ability to integrate a growing number of purchases. That raises questions about spending and execution even as the acquisitions broaden its AI capabilities. Report on Salesforce’s AI acquisition spending
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce filed a shelf registration covering 609,118 shares, valued at about $139.6 million, for an employee stock ownership plan. The shares could create some dilution and add to investor sensitivity around stock-based compensation, though this is not necessarily a broad public offering. Salesforce share registration report

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $221.94 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $239.53 and its 200-day moving average is $198.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. 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 research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity 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 value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Profile

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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