Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Holdings Lessened by Kessler Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Kessler Investment Group cut its Salesforce stake by 7.8% in the third quarter, selling 6,322 shares and retaining 75,124 shares worth approximately $17.25 million. Salesforce remains the fund’s second-largest holding and represents 7.9% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Salesforce carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $275.14. However, some firms recently downgraded the stock to “Hold” or “Sector Perform.”
• Salesforce reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.8% annualized yield.

Kessler Investment Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,124 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 6,322 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 7.9% of Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kessler Investment Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $610,974,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded Salesforce from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $289.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:CRM traded up $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $225.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,490,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,714,363. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.44. The stock has a market cap of $185.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.03 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. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business'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 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. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

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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