Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Lowered by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 24.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 917,593 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 295,375 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.11% of Salesforce worth $210,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Mystic Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $208,000. Elevated Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 30.0% in the third quarter. Elevated Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,814,000 after acquiring an additional 2,825 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 59.2% in the third quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $408,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $246.66 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $203.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $230.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.50.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade helped lift Salesforce, adding to favorable sentiment around its valuation, earnings outlook and AI growth prospects. Salesforce Shares Climb on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce benefited from broad strength in enterprise software and a major United Kingdom deal, while technical analysts pointed to a bullish flag breakout, a double-bottom pattern and a weekly reversal that could extend the recovery. Why Is Salesforce Stock Gaining Thursday? Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: ZoomInfo was named a flagship data partner for Salesforce’s new Hunter outbound sales agent. Hunter will combine CRM data with live intelligence to identify prospects and recommend next actions, reinforcing Salesforce’s strategy of embedding AI into Sales Cloud. ZoomInfo Named a Flagship Data Partner for Hunter
• Positive Sentiment: One investment-fund review argued that Salesforce’s AI integration is increasing the value of its core enterprise platform. Another comparison gave Salesforce an edge over ServiceNow based on stronger earnings-estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation. Salesforce AI Integration Enhances Platform Value Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow. Salesforce generates more revenue, but ServiceNow has posted faster and more consistent year-over-year growth, highlighting the need for Salesforce to accelerate its expansion. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow Revenue Trends
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain skeptical that agentic AI will meaningfully improve Salesforce’s profits, particularly because many customers have not yet upgraded to newer offerings. That uncertainty could limit further gains until AI monetization becomes clearer. Agentic AI Skepticism

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Freedom Broker increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.12.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company's product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.

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