Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

Key Points

• BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 1.2%, owning 232,195 shares valued at approximately $62.3 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds made significant changes to their positions in Salesforce, including Nuveen LLC, which acquired a new position worth approximately $2.04 billion.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings of $2.58 EPS, surpassing the estimated $2.55 EPS, with a revenue of $9.83 billion for the period.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 232,195 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $62,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 52,577 shares of company stock worth $13,528,188 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Northland Securities cut their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued 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 $342.89.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

CRM opened at $248.0150 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.44. The firm has a market cap of $237.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Salesforce Profile

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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