Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% in Q3 to 1,299,513 shares, representing 0.14% of the company and valued at approximately $307,984,000.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.81 vs. $3.05 and revenue of $11.20 billion (up 12.1% YoY), and set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 and Q1 2027 guidance of 3.110–3.130.
• Analyst sentiment is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $283.14, based on a mix of 1 Strong Buy, 27 Buy, 11 Hold and 1 Sell ratings.

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,299,513 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 106,107 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.14% of Salesforce worth $307,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 18,987 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,500,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.6% during the third quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 9,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.7% in the third quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 181,952 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $43,123,000 after acquiring an additional 59,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 44.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 90,813 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $21,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,876 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.14.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $198.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $183.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

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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