Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 22.7%, selling 1,510 shares and owning 5,154 shares valued at approximately $1.39 million.
• Salesforce recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, yielding 0.6%, while the company’s payout ratio stands at 25.98%.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Salesforce stock, with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $341.47, even as some firms have adjusted their targets downward.

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 22.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,154 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,510 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $467,944,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $488,486,000 after buying an additional 1,721,550 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 4.7%

CRM traded down $12.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $244.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,530,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,437,911. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $256.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $233.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.23, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.22. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce'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. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $566,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,997,665,957.86. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,827 shares of company stock worth $16,342,398. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.