Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock: King Luther Capital Management Corp Cuts Stake

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management cut its Salesforce stake by 8.5% in the third quarter, selling 15,662 shares and retaining 168,773 shares valued at about $38.7 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, beating the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $278.98; four analysts rated the stock a Strong Buy and 32 rated it Buy.

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,773 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 15,662 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $38,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,265,000. TAM Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,945,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,846,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 184.5% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,983 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,817,000 after buying an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $2,119,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought 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 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $217.35 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $236.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce News Summary

Investors following CRM have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s free cash flow supports substantial share buybacks and dividends, potentially sustaining shareholder returns. However, slower growth projections raise questions about how durable those payouts will be. CRM's Cash Flow Strength: Can It Sustain Big Shareholder Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Missionforce National Security received “Awardable” status in a federal solutions marketplace, giving Department of War organizations access to Salesforce’s recruiting capabilities. This could support government-sector opportunities, though the immediate financial impact is unclear. Missionforce National Security Achieves Awardable Status
• Negative Sentiment: S&P cut Salesforce’s credit rating to A, citing concerns linked to deals and the company’s planned $25 billion buyback. The downgrade spotlights potential balance-sheet and capital-allocation risks. Salesforce Sinks as S&P Cuts Its Rating to A on Deals and a $25 Billion Buyback

Salesforce 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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