Route One Investment Company L.P. Sells 198,450 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Route One Investment Company L.P. reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 36.9%, selling 198,450 shares and now holding 338,650 shares worth approximately $90.88 million.
• Salesforce's recently declared quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share represents an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 25.98%.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their target prices for Salesforce, with Morgan Stanley raising their target to $405.00 while Stifel Nicolaus lowered theirs to $325.00, reflecting varied market expectations.

Route One Investment Company L.P. lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 36.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,650 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 198,450 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 3.8% of Route One Investment Company L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Route One Investment Company L.P.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $90,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. The trade was 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,077 shares of company stock worth $16,885,773. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.34.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.6%

CRM opened at $250.40 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $255.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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