Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Key Points

• Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its Salesforce stake by 67.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 6,787 shares worth approximately $1.56 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of CRM shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Salesforce receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $275.14, above its reported trading price of $228.47.
• 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 paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, implying a 0.8% annual yield.

Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,787 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after acquiring an additional 659,573 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,188,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 924.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,028,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504,605 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Argus raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $275.14.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $228.47. 1,989,397 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,672,909. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $225.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.67. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a market cap of $188.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.26. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was 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. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company's product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.

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