Amundi Purchases 292,356 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 5.0% in Q1, now holding approximately 6.1 million shares valued at around $1.58 billion.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce for nearly $578,295, with his remaining holdings valued at over $3 billion.
• Salesforce's latest quarterly dividend was set at $0.416, representing an annual yield of 0.7%, and the company has a strong insider selling trend with 61,577 shares sold in the last three months.

Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,142,904 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 292,356 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 0.6% of Amundi's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Amundi owned about 0.64% of Salesforce worth $1,575,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,419,037,000 after purchasing an additional 437,435 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,874,900,000 after purchasing an additional 114,278 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $6.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.40. 13,010,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,763,446. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $255.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.08. The company has a market cap of $239.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.34%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company 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.