Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Lessened by Veritas Asset Management LLP

Key Points

• Veritas Asset Management cut its Salesforce stake by 97.7% in the second quarter, selling 2.2 million shares and retaining 51,741 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, exceeding the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.
• Salesforce shares fell 3.9% to $249.03, though analysts maintained a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $266.50.

Veritas Asset Management LLP lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 97.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,741 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,202,145 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 0.2% of Veritas Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Veritas Asset Management LLP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13,260.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 188,085,056 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,465,405,000 after acquiring an additional 186,677,290 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,286,909,000 after purchasing an additional 659,573 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $10.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $249.03. The company had a trading volume of 16,186,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,091,925. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve 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 stock has a market capitalization of $204.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50 day moving average is $195.74 and its 200-day moving average is $185.92.

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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Salesforce from $236.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $266.50.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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