Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock: Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Raises Position

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Investments increased its Salesforce stake by 2.7% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 103,283 shares valued at approximately $23.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of CRM shares.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% annualized yield, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $278.98.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,283 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $23,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 631.4% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 90,622 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $20,804,000 after purchasing an additional 78,231 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,220 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,183,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 71.9% in the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 47,618 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $10,932,000 after acquiring an additional 19,920 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,859 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, XXI Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $654,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.6%

Salesforce stock opened at $248.79 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $236.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.88. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $269.11. The stock has a market cap of $204.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 16.04%.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI products are reportedly growing at triple-digit rates, while its Agentforce platform and more than $14 billion in annual free cash flow could support profitable expansion. The company’s valuation may look attractive if AI adoption accelerates. Salesforce Is Betting Big on AI. The Payoff Could Be Bigger Than Investors Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “Overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in Salesforce’s growth outlook and AI transition. Salesforce Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: The $5.66 billion Braze purchase could expand Salesforce’s customer-engagement capabilities and strengthen its push from AI defense toward a broader autonomous-agent strategy. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons with Adobe, Arista Networks and Snowflake highlight Salesforce’s CRM leadership, focus on profitable growth and AI-agent pivot, but do not represent new company-specific developments. Salesforce vs. Snowflake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be concerned that the Braze acquisition’s $5.66 billion price will increase integration risk and pressure near-term returns. Questions about contracts, pricing and customer impact could temper enthusiasm for the deal. Salesforce to Buy Braze for $5.66B

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

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