Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Purchased by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Key Points

• Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its Salesforce stake by 7.5% in the third quarter, adding 9,743 shares and bringing its holdings to 138,996 shares valued at approximately $31.9 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce, while insider activity was mixed: Director David Blair Kirk purchased nearly $1 million in shares, whereas Director Craig Conway sold about $1.17 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $5.90 per share, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, with revenue rising 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $278.12.

Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,996 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,743 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.6% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $610,974,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $246.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $230.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. 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 company earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade helped lift Salesforce, adding to favorable sentiment around its valuation, earnings outlook and AI growth prospects. Salesforce Shares Climb on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce benefited from broad strength in enterprise software and a major United Kingdom deal, while technical analysts pointed to a bullish flag breakout, a double-bottom pattern and a weekly reversal that could extend the recovery. Why Is Salesforce Stock Gaining Thursday? Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: ZoomInfo was named a flagship data partner for Salesforce’s new Hunter outbound sales agent. Hunter will combine CRM data with live intelligence to identify prospects and recommend next actions, reinforcing Salesforce’s strategy of embedding AI into Sales Cloud. ZoomInfo Named a Flagship Data Partner for Hunter
• Positive Sentiment: One investment-fund review argued that Salesforce’s AI integration is increasing the value of its core enterprise platform. Another comparison gave Salesforce an edge over ServiceNow based on stronger earnings-estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation. Salesforce AI Integration Enhances Platform Value Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow. Salesforce generates more revenue, but ServiceNow has posted faster and more consistent year-over-year growth, highlighting the need for Salesforce to accelerate its expansion. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow Revenue Trends
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain skeptical that agentic AI will meaningfully improve Salesforce’s profits, particularly because many customers have not yet upgraded to newer offerings. That uncertainty could limit further gains until AI monetization becomes clearer. Agentic AI Skepticism

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. CLSA initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Evercore started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.12.

Salesforce Company Profile

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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