Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Robertson Stephens Wealth Management cut its Salesforce stake by 20% in the third quarter, selling 2,962 shares and retaining 11,855 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.
• Investor focus remains on Salesforce’s AI strategy, including its new Hunter sales agent and Agentforce capabilities; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $278.12, above the reported $241 share price.

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,855 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,962 shares during the quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $844,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $241.00 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $231.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.89. The company has a market capitalization of $198.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Hunter, an AI-powered outbound sales agent built on Agentforce. Integrations with ZoomInfo, Demandbase and DocuSign could increase adoption of Salesforce’s higher-value AI workflows and make the platform more embedded in customers’ sales and contracting processes. Salesforce unveils Hunter for AI-powered outbound sales
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reportedly upgraded Salesforce in a rare double upgrade, citing improving confidence in the company’s AI strategy, including a small AI acquisition and changes to AI-product pricing. The upgrade supports the view that monetization could improve as customers move to premium offerings. Salesforce received a rare double upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: The Loops AI acquisition and new Agentforce capabilities reinforce Salesforce’s effort to turn AI into a growth driver, although investors will need evidence of meaningful revenue acceleration. Salesforce buys the Loops AI platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor interest in CRM has risen sharply, with Salesforce appearing among heavily searched stocks. This may increase visibility but is not, by itself, a fundamental catalyst. Investors heavily search Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Enterprise-software shares are falling as worries spread that aggressive AI infrastructure and financing commitments may not generate sufficient returns. Salesforce is being pulled lower alongside other AI-linked software leaders. Enterprise software stocks fall as AI financing worries spread
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are comparing Salesforce’s premium-edition price increases with Adobe’s more user-friendly pricing approach, raising concerns that Salesforce’s AI monetization strategy could pressure customer upgrades or retention. Adobe versus Salesforce for AI software growth

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.12.

Salesforce Profile

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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