Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,030 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,356 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in 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. KDT Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson raised Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Stephens cut their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $333.11.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce Price Performance
CRM opened at $251.83 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year 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 has a market capitalization of $239.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $255.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.91.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. 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 firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 24.13%.
Salesforce Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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