Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock: Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Increases Holdings

Key Points

• Danica Pension increased its Salesforce stake by 15.2% in the third quarter, to 96,249 shares valued at about $22.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the stock.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $278.98; recommendations include 4 Strong Buy, 32 Buy, 13 Hold and 3 Sell ratings.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue of $11.35 billion rose 10.8% year over year.

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,249 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,734 shares during the quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Salesforce by 130.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Salesforce by 28.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,188,666,000 after buying an additional 2,561,923 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 11.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,288,199 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $984,442,000 after buying an additional 455,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $927,332,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $315.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $289.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $217.66. The company had a trading volume of 5,047,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,957,323. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $235.27 and its 200 day moving average is $198.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based software company best known for customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Its platform helps businesses manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce and customer data, and includes products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud and Agentforce. The company also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data analytics and visualization, and MuleSoft for connecting applications and data. Salesforce's products are used by organizations across a range of industries and are available to customers around the world.

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