Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Raised by 71 West Capital Partners

Key Points

• 71 West Capital Partners increased its Salesforce position by 8.1% in the third quarter, adding 3,155 shares to hold 41,983 shares worth about $9.64 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, beating the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue of $11.35 billion slightly exceeded estimates and rose 10.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $278.98; institutional investors own 80.43% of the stock.

71 West Capital Partners grew its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,983 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares during the quarter. 71 West Capital Partners' holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. CLSA initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $214.62 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $238.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.60. The firm has a market cap of $176.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. 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 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Salesforce

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.

Founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff and other co-founders, Salesforce is headquartered in San Francisco.

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