E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Acquires 120,108 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its Salesforce holdings by 63.5% in the third quarter, adding 120,108 shares to own 309,252 shares worth approximately $71 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.98. Recent target increases included $266 from Monness Crespi & Hardt and $295 from Freedom Broker.
• Salesforce exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.90 in EPS versus the $3.27 consensus and $11.35 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 10.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, equal to a 0.7% annualized yield.

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 309,252 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 120,108 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 1.6% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Salesforce were worth $70,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $844,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Freedom Broker upped their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $250.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $235.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 16.04%.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, adding real-time consumer-event processing and marketing capabilities that could strengthen Marketing Cloud and support its Agentforce AI strategy. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: UBS described the deal as a strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing offering and accelerate consolidation across the software industry. Salesforce's Braze deal wins UBS backing on strategy, but growth concerns remain
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and set a $300 price target, implying further upside based on Salesforce’s AI, data and customer-engagement opportunities. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce rating
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a selective rebound in enterprise software names that had been pressured by artificial-intelligence disruption fears. Salesforce has substantially outperformed the broader market over the past six months, raising expectations that improving growth and AI monetization are already influencing investor sentiment. Adobe Jumps as Software Names Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: The all-cash purchase represents a sizable commitment and carries a 58% premium to Braze’s value. Analysts cautioned that Salesforce still must demonstrate stronger organic growth, realize synergies and secure antitrust clearance; those concerns initially pressured the shares after the announcement. Salesforce's $5.6B Braze Buyout

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

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