Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Sells 1,704 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce by 25.9%, selling 1,704 shares and retaining 4,887 shares valued at $1.33 million.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock for approximately $539,528, maintaining a significant ownership of over 11.9 million shares valued at around $2.86 billion.
• Salesforce's stock has recently been upgraded to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, while analysts have provided mixed price target adjustments, pointing to a consensus target of $331.89.

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 25.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,887 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,704 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $345,100,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.79, for a total value of $539,527.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,856,275,610.09. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,634,805. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $331.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $242.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $244.68 and a 200-day moving average of $258.77. The company has a market cap of $230.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. 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 research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

About Salesforce

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.