Salesforce Inc. $CRM Position Lessened by AIA Group Ltd

Key Points

• AIA Group cut its Salesforce position by 64% in the third quarter, selling 84,365 shares and ending the period with 47,443 shares valued at about $10.9 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion.
• Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta to expand its customer-service AI capabilities; reports also raised concerns about the roughly $2.7 billion deal and the challenge of integrating multiple acquisitions.

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 64.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,443 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 84,365 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta, adding technology aimed at customer-service operations and strengthening its AI offerings. The deal supports the company’s push to monetize AI, though its price and expected financial contribution are not detailed in the announcement. Salesforce announces Cresta acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison of recent quarterly revenue trends says Salesforce has delivered steadier, more consistent expansion than IBM, a positive signal for the predictability of its business. Salesforce versus IBM revenue comparison
• Negative Sentiment: The Cresta agreement is reportedly Salesforce’s fifth major acquisition this year, and coverage highlighted concerns about the roughly $2.7 billion AI deal and the company’s ability to integrate a growing number of purchases. That raises questions about spending and execution even as the acquisitions broaden its AI capabilities. Report on Salesforce’s AI acquisition spending
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce filed a shelf registration covering 609,118 shares, valued at about $139.6 million, for an employee stock ownership plan. The shares could create some dilution and add to investor sensitivity around stock-based compensation, though this is not necessarily a broad public offering. Salesforce share registration report

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $221.94 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $239.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.72. The company has a market cap of $182.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce 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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