Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Reduced by Kensico Capital Management Corp

Key Points

• Kensico Capital Management Corp reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 45.5% in the 1st quarter, owning 235,600 shares valued at approximately $63.23 million.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly EPS of $2.91, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $10.24 billion, a 9.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, to be paid on October 9th, translating to a 0.7% yield.

Kensico Capital Management Corp lowered its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 45.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 235,600 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 196,500 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 1.4% of Kensico Capital Management Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Kensico Capital Management Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $63,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $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 increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,874,900,000 after purchasing an additional 114,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE CRM traded up $1.07 on Monday, hitting $251.83. 10,824,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,490,940. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $255.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.32. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 is currently 24.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total value of $543,375.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,644,396.50. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $333.11.

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.