Boston Common Asset Management LLC Buys 35,918 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 44.8%, acquiring an additional 35,918 shares, bringing its total ownership to 116,177 shares valued at approximately $31.68 million.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their positions in Salesforce, contributing to an overall institutional ownership of 80.43%.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.91, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a $0.416 dividend to be paid on October 9th.

Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 116,177 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 35,918 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 0.9% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Boston Common Asset Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 10.9% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 1,173 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 4.9% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,251 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total transaction of $531,855.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 over the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $240.25 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $246.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.19. The company has a market capitalization of $228.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

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.

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