Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI sharply increased its Salesforce stake by 440.4% in the first quarter, ending with 380,625 shares valued at about $71.1 million.
• Salesforce shares were up 1.8% to $173.82, and the company’s latest earnings beat expectations with $3.88 EPS on $11.13 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but constructive: Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $252.13, while institutional investors own 80.43% of the stock.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 440.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 380,625 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 310,193 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.5% of Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Salesforce were worth $71,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its stake in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $173.82 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.32 and a 1 year high of $274.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. CLSA initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $252.13.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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