Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Trimmed by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,766 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 58,723 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $37,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.39, for a total transaction of $545,377.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,887,245,694.69. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,077 shares of company stock valued at $19,099,953 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $239.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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