Palestra Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Palestra Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (CRM) by 11.5%, holding 499,781 shares valued at $134.12 million, making it the 9th largest holding in its portfolio.
• Salesforce recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.91 EPS, surpassing estimates, and a revenue of $10.24 billion, up 9.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%, to be paid on October 9th.

Palestra Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 499,781 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 65,169 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 5.3% of Palestra Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Palestra Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Salesforce worth $134,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,874,900,000 after acquiring an additional 114,278 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $252.12. 9,701,035 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,528,941. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.91. 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 announced its earnings results 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 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $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. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.12, for a total value of $565,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,233,709.52. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,327 shares of company stock worth $17,450,793. Corporate 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.