Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30%, now owning approximately $206.9 million worth of shares.
• Salesforce recently reported earnings surpassing analyst estimates, with $2.91 earnings per share and a quarterly revenue of $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.66 and a yield of 0.7%.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 758,766 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 324,912 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Salesforce worth $206,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,592,501,000 after buying an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after buying an additional 600,386 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,707,316,000 after acquiring an additional 295,681 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.64, for a total value of $527,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,794,931,019.44. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,521,495. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $264.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $243.27 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $244.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.87. The firm has a market cap of $231.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 24.13%.

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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