Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 35.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,589 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,956 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $54,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after acquiring an additional 600,386 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of CRM traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $242.33. 7,191,474 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,557,481. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $253.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.58.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Insider Activity
In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.91, for a total transaction of $548,797.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,905,351,282.61. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,554,576 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Profile
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Free Report)
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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