B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires 3,338 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• B. Riley Wealth Advisors increased its Salesforce stake by 40.5% in the third quarter, acquiring 3,338 additional shares for a total holding of 11,575 shares valued at approximately $2.66 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, substantially exceeding the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, yielding about 0.7% annually.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $278.12 versus the reported share price of $235.95. However, investors remain focused on whether Salesforce’s AI investments can generate sustained growth and avoid revenue cannibalization.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 40.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,575 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,338 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 6,422 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 3,396 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the first 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. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.5% in the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,126 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $235.95 on Thursday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $229.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.02. The firm has a market cap of $194.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm's 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Broker raised their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Phillip Securities downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. HC Wainwright cut Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.12.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and AI acquisition support sentiment: Bank of America reportedly issued a rare double upgrade, arguing that Salesforce’s AI offerings could deepen customer dependence on its platform. The bullish call followed Salesforce’s agreement to acquire AI-powered analytics platform Loops, which could strengthen its data and analytics capabilities. Salesforce Gets a Rare BofA Double Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Technical setup points to additional upside: A weekly bullish reversal, daily double-bottom pattern and potential bullish-flag breakout suggest the post-breakout pullback may be ending, according to technical analysis. Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded DocuSign partnership adds an AI workflow catalyst: DocuSign’s Intelligent Agreement Management platform will be integrated natively with Salesforce, Agentforce and Slack, potentially increasing the usefulness of Salesforce’s AI agents for revenue teams. DocuSign and Salesforce Launch Intelligent Agreement Management
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative valuation looks favorable: One comparison with ServiceNow concluded Salesforce has stronger earnings estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation, although investors still need evidence that those advantages will translate into sustained growth. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Negative Sentiment: AI monetization remains the key overhang: Despite earnings beats, skeptics question whether agentic AI can materially improve Salesforce’s profits. Reports also highlight AI cannibalization risks and note that many customers have not yet adopted a potentially important upgrade, leaving investors cautious about near-term revenue acceleration. Agentic AI Skepticism

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company's product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.

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