Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Reduced by HF Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• HF Advisory Group reduced its Salesforce stake by 22.8% in the third quarter, selling 2,431 shares and retaining 8,216 shares valued at approximately $1.89 million. Institutional investors still own about 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus and revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44, equivalent to a 0.8% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $275.14 price target, though Salesforce faces competition from migration efforts encouraging customers to move to ServiceNow.

HF Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,216 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,431 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 3,396 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its position in Salesforce by 5.5% during the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,126 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strata Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4.3% during the first quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying supports a software rebound. Salesforce is highlighted as a leading beneficiary of renewed institutional interest in software companies with sticky enterprise customers and valuable data. Analysts cited improving money-flow and relative-strength indicators, while Salesforce’s switching costs and investment in agentic AI could support customer retention and larger deals. Wall Street Left Software for Dead: 4 Stocks Institutions Are Buying Back
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation and cash generation remain attractive. Salesforce reportedly generated free cash flow equivalent to 8.2% of its market value, well above the S&P 500 median. Its depressed forward valuation, strong profitability and cash generation could provide room for a re-rating if AI products improve growth, renewals or deal sizes. Should You Buy Salesforce Stock For Its Cash?
• Positive Sentiment: Broker recommendations remain favorable. The average brokerage recommendation indicates a Buy, which may help sentiment. However, the reports caution that sell-side ratings can be overly optimistic and should not be used alone when making an investment decision. Brokers Suggest Investing in Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: New commerce partnership expands Salesforce’s product ecosystem. Forter was named a launch partner for Storefront Next and will provide fraud protection for Salesforce Loyalty Management. The collaboration strengthens Salesforce’s commerce-security offering, but its near-term financial impact is unclear. Salesforce Names a Launch Partner for Storefront Next
• Negative Sentiment: Migration competition remains a risk. Work4Flow launched a 90-day program designed to move enterprise customers from Salesforce to ServiceNow CRM, including data, workflows and custom business logic. While one program is unlikely to materially affect Salesforce immediately, it highlights competitive pressure and the importance of retaining large customers. Work4Flow Launches Salesforce-to-ServiceNow Migration Program

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:CRM opened at $228.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $226.55 and a 200 day moving average of $192.92. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. HC Wainwright cut shares of Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial restated 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.14.

Insider Activity 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 acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Profile

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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