Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 23.9%, owning 17,520 shares valued at approximately $4.7 million.
• Salesforce's recent earnings report showed $2.91 EPS, surpassing estimates and demonstrating a 9.8% increase year-over-year in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, which will be paid to shareholders on October 9th.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,520 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,376 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 6.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.1% during the first 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 boosted its position in Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth 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. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.66, for a total value of $554,985.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,938,108,102.86. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,577 shares of company stock valued at $18,005,778. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $0.31 on Monday, reaching $242.45. 3,028,101 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,531,675. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $253.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $230.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. 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 paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.13%.

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.