Voleon Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 321.7% in the first quarter, now owning 14,073 shares worth approximately $3.78 million.
• Insider trading reports reveal that CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares for $543,375, reducing his ownership by 0.02% while still holding over $2.87 billion in stock.
• Salesforce reported $2.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, with a revenue of $10.24 billion, a 9.8% increase year-over-year.

Voleon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 321.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,073 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,736 shares during the quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, Hyperion Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 134,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $44,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the last quarter. 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,327 shares of company stock worth $17,450,793. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Bank of America decreased 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. KeyCorp cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.7%

Salesforce stock traded down $9.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $242.62. The stock had a trading volume of 10,071,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,550,413. The company has a market capitalization of $230.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $254.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.82. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.13%.

About Salesforce

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.