Davidson Investment Advisors Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Davidson Investment Advisors has reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 1.8%, owning 83,695 shares worth approximately $22.8 million after selling 1,493 shares in the second quarter.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.91 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.78, while revenue reached $10.24 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 9.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, translating to a 0.7% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 24.13%.

Davidson Investment Advisors lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,695 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,493 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors' holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 75.7% in the 2nd quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 65,329 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $17,457,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares during the last quarter. Sagace Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $224,000. IFG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 29.2% during the second quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 14.1% in the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 13,629 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,668,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $239.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's fifty day moving average is $244.47 and its 200 day moving average is $258.36. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 24.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total value of $532,012.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,490,962.95. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,572,233. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce 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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