Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Cuts Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 83.6%, owning 1,122 shares valued at $301,000 after selling 5,725 shares in the first quarter.
• Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares for approximately $585,675, retaining a significant ownership of nearly 12 million shares valued at over $3 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, representing a yield of 0.7%, while maintaining a current dividend payout ratio of 25.98%.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. decreased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 83.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,122 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,725 shares during the period. Banco BTG Pactual S.A.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC now owns 27,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $7,375,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,687,825 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $452,945,000 after acquiring an additional 252,468 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 62,939 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $16,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Breed s Hill Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.07, for a total transaction of $553,657.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,931,080,275.97. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 52,577 shares of company stock worth $13,528,188 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $342.89.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE CRM traded up $2.1850 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $248.0150. 6,690,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,716,805. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.44. The stock has a market cap of $237.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.