Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Talbot Financial LLC

Key Points

• Talbot Financial reduced its Salesforce stake by 10.6% in the third quarter, selling 10,458 shares and retaining 88,085 shares valued at approximately $20.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Salesforce receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $278.40. Recent price targets were raised by Argus, Monness Crespi & Hardt, and Freedom Broker.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, beating estimates of $3.27, while revenue reached $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year. Shares recently traded at $242.11, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Talbot Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,085 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 10,458 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.4% of Talbot Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Talbot Financial LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $610,974,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Freedom Broker lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Susquehanna began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.40.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of CRM traded up $1.41 on Monday, reaching $242.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,518,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,493,896. 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 twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $231.47 and a 200-day moving average of $194.89.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the 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 directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Company 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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