Salesforce Inc. $CRM Holdings Lifted by Generali Investments Management Co LLC

Key Points

• Generali Investments Management increased its Salesforce stake by 45.4% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 11,627 shares valued at approximately $2.67 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of CRM.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, yielding about 0.7% annually.
• Salesforce’s AI strategy remains a key focus, with the launch of its Agentforce-powered Hunter sales agent and the Loops AI acquisition supporting potential growth. However, concerns about AI investment returns, premium pricing and customer retention remain risks; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $278.12.

Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 45.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Hunter, an AI-powered outbound sales agent built on Agentforce. Integrations with ZoomInfo, Demandbase and DocuSign could increase adoption of Salesforce’s higher-value AI workflows and make the platform more embedded in customers’ sales and contracting processes. Salesforce unveils Hunter for AI-powered outbound sales
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reportedly upgraded Salesforce in a rare double upgrade, citing improving confidence in the company’s AI strategy, including a small AI acquisition and changes to AI-product pricing. The upgrade supports the view that monetization could improve as customers move to premium offerings. Salesforce received a rare double upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: The Loops AI acquisition and new Agentforce capabilities reinforce Salesforce’s effort to turn AI into a growth driver, although investors will need evidence of meaningful revenue acceleration. Salesforce buys the Loops AI platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor interest in CRM has risen sharply, with Salesforce appearing among heavily searched stocks. This may increase visibility but is not, by itself, a fundamental catalyst. Investors heavily search Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Enterprise-software shares are falling as worries spread that aggressive AI infrastructure and financing commitments may not generate sufficient returns. Salesforce is being pulled lower alongside other AI-linked software leaders. Enterprise software stocks fall as AI financing worries spread
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are comparing Salesforce’s premium-edition price increases with Adobe’s more user-friendly pricing approach, raising concerns that Salesforce’s AI monetization strategy could pressure customer upgrades or retention. Adobe versus Salesforce for AI software growth

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1%

CRM stock opened at $241.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $231.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.89.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "positive" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $289.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.12.

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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