Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Convergence Financial LLC

Key Points

• Convergence Financial LLC cut its Salesforce stake by 52.2% in the third quarter, selling 7,376 shares and retaining 6,741 shares valued at approximately $1.55 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 80.43%, with major investors including BlackRock, Arrowstreet Capital, Bank of America, Legal & General and Bank of New York Mellon holding or adding significant positions.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with Salesforce carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $278.98; the company also reported quarterly revenue growth of 10.8% and earnings well above estimates.

Convergence Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,741 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 7,376 shares during the quarter. Convergence Financial LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,914,086,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.98.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Usage-based AI billing could improve monetization. Salesforce plans to begin charging customers based on the volume of AI-agent calls in November, moving beyond a purely seat-based model. New Agent Fabric tools for testing, evaluation and cost controls may help customers adopt agents and give Salesforce a clearer path to growing AI revenue. Salesforce Brings In Usage Based AI Billing With New Agent Fabric Controls
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce is strengthening the generative-AI investment case. Recent commentary points to improving Agentforce traction and supports the view that Salesforce can use its large customer base to commercialize AI capabilities, potentially accelerating growth beyond its core customer-management software. Agentforce Growth Strengthens Salesforce’s Generative AI Narrative
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and valuation coverage remains generally constructive. Zacks describes CRM as a highly ranked growth stock, while other analysis argues the shares look inexpensive relative to Salesforce’s earnings power. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed strong earnings, revenue growth and profitability, supporting the bullish case. Salesforce Stock Looks Cheap Relative To Its Earnings Power
• Neutral Sentiment: Product expansion adds ecosystem value. Fastcall launched mobile calling and SMS integrations for Salesforce on iPhone and Android, broadening customer-engagement functionality, although the third-party announcement is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Fastcall Launches Fastcall Mobile
• Negative Sentiment: Recent volatility reflects execution and valuation concerns. CRM fell in the previous session even as the broader market advanced, suggesting investors remain cautious about whether AI growth will offset slower underlying growth and justify the stock’s valuation. The shift to usage-based pricing also introduces uncertainty around revenue predictability and customer adoption.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $242.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $199.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $237.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

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