Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. reduced its Salesforce holdings by 18.2%, selling over 1.6 million shares, leaving them with approximately 7.3 million shares valued at $1.96 billion.
• Salesforce reported Q1 earnings of $2.58 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $9.83 billion, reflecting a 7.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 25.98%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,309,400 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,629,136 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.76% of Salesforce worth $1,961,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 52,577 shares of company stock valued at $13,528,188 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Mizuho cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $342.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $0.9360 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $247.3540. 2,442,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,208,324. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

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.