Salesforce Inc. $CRM Position Trimmed by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Key Points

• Riverbridge Partners cut its Salesforce stake by 92.8% in the third quarter, selling 93,966 shares and retaining 7,239 shares valued at $1.66 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, beating the $3.27 consensus estimate; revenue was $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $278.98; hedge funds and other institutional investors owned 80.43% of the stock.

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 92.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,239 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 93,966 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.0% in the third quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. now owns 687 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Northbridge Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northbridge Financial Group LLC now owns 7,341 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,829,000. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,493 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Salesforce by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 13,683 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,141,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce News Roundup

Investors following CRM have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s free cash flow supports substantial share buybacks and dividends, potentially sustaining shareholder returns. However, slower growth projections raise questions about how durable those payouts will be. CRM's Cash Flow Strength: Can It Sustain Big Shareholder Returns?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlighted Salesforce’s value-stock characteristics and argued its shares may be undervalued, while noting that leverage concerns persist. Salesforce Stock Looks Undervalued Even As Leverage Concerns Linger
• Negative Sentiment: S&P cut Salesforce’s credit rating to A, citing concerns linked to deals and the company’s planned $25 billion buyback. The downgrade spotlights potential balance-sheet and capital-allocation risks. Salesforce Sinks as S&P Cuts Its Rating to A on Deals and a $25 Billion Buyback

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8%

CRM opened at $217.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $178.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.48.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $289.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based software company best known for customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Its platform helps businesses manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce and customer data, and includes products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud and Agentforce. The company also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data analytics and visualization, and MuleSoft for connecting applications and data. Salesforce's products are used by organizations across a range of industries and are available to customers around the world.

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