AQR Capital Management LLC Has $139.37 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 61.3%, owning a total of 528,953 shares valued at approximately $139.37 million.
• Several research firms have provided mixed ratings for Salesforce, with Goldman Sachs raising its target price to $385 and Barclays lowering it to $316, indicating a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.91 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, and reported a quarterly revenue of $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% increase from the previous year.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 61.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 528,953 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 201,004 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Salesforce worth $139,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $575,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total transaction of $543,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,644,396.50. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,077 shares of company stock worth $16,885,773. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $6.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.40. 13,010,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,763,446. 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 2.27 and a beta of 1.22. 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 50-day simple moving average of $255.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.68. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. DA Davidson raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.34.

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.