Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Salesforce by 21.9%, now owning 277,278 shares valued at approximately $74.4 million.
• Salesforce's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.58, surpassing estimates, and revenues of $9.83 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 7.6%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, yielding approximately 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 25.98%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 277,278 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 77,867 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $74,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth 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. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Insight Holdings Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,549,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 54,827 shares of company stock valued at $14,085,446 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $247.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $258.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $270.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities cut their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $342.57.

Salesforce 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.

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