Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Buys 652,007 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management increased its Salesforce stake by 126.8% in the third quarter, purchasing 652,007 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 1.17 million shares valued at approximately $267.7 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce. The stock opened at $242.77, while analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $278.40.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, substantially exceeding the $3.27 consensus estimate, and revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.7% annualized yield.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 126.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,166,078 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 652,007 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.14% of Salesforce worth $267,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,388 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Rare Wolf Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC now owns 13,432 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,084,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. DUTCH ASSET Corp bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $262,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 239,810 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $55,053,000 after buying an additional 8,979 shares during the period. Finally, 55 North Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $242.77 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $233.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $199.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month 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 the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America upgraded Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.40.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement software provider Braze NASDAQ: BRZE for approximately $5.66 billion, paying $47.50 in cash per Braze Class A share—a premium of roughly 58%. Braze’s real-time marketing and customer-engagement tools could strengthen Salesforce’s AI-powered CRM and marketing offerings. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Braze
• Positive Sentiment: The transaction could help Salesforce expand its data and AI monetization strategy by combining Braze’s behavior-based engagement platform with Salesforce’s customer data, automation and agent technology. Rival Klaviyo’s advance suggests investors see broader strategic value for the customer-engagement software sector. Salesforce Buying Customer Engagement Firm Braze
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s longer-term outlook remains supported by its AI-agent ambitions and enterprise data assets, including Informatica. One bullish analysis argues the shares could deliver substantial gains by 2030 if AI adoption accelerates and the company converts its installed base into recurring revenue. I Ran the Numbers on Salesforce: Here’s Where I Think It Could Be in 2030
• Neutral Sentiment: The Braze deal is a strategic bet rather than an immediate earnings catalyst. Investors will look for details on funding, closing conditions, integration, revenue synergies and whether the acquisition improves Salesforce’s growth rate.
• Negative Sentiment: The cash purchase price and sizable premium raised concerns about capital allocation and whether Salesforce is overpaying in an increasingly competitive marketing-software market. Those concerns caused CRM shares to retreat initially despite the potential AI benefits. Salesforce Announces $5.66 Billion Deal for Braze

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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