Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Cut by Carmignac Gestion

Key Points

• Carmignac Gestion reduced its Salesforce stake by 3.4% in the first quarter, selling 34,022 shares and retaining 974,129 shares valued at approximately $181.8 million. Salesforce represents about 2.8% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Salesforce holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $249.51, despite several recent target cuts and rating changes.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $3.88, beating estimates of $3.13, while revenue rose 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, implying a 1.0% annualized yield.

Carmignac Gestion lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 974,129 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 34,022 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 2.8% of Carmignac Gestion's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Carmignac Gestion owned about 0.12% of Salesforce worth $181,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.1% during the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 40,959 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $7,646,000 after purchasing an additional 6,289 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 3,312 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Positano Wealth Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 234.5% in the 1st quarter. Positano Wealth Management Ltd now owns 42,146 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 29,546 shares during the last quarter. Farmers National Bank boosted its position in Salesforce by 69.2% during the 1st quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 4,060 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthquest Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 1,190 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Citigroup raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $184.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $150.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $170.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.49. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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