Samlyn Capital LLC Invests $50.56 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Samlyn Capital LLC has invested approximately $50.56 million in Salesforce Inc., acquiring 188,397 shares during the first quarter.
• Several major institutional investors, including Vanguard and Goldman Sachs, have also increased their stakes in Salesforce, with hedge funds now owning 80.43% of the company.
• Salesforce recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, with an annual yield of 0.7%, and beat earnings expectations with $2.91 per share for the latest quarter.

Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 188,397 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $50,558,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,419,037,000 after purchasing an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,874,900,000 after purchasing an additional 114,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total value of $543,375.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,644,396.50. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $250.40 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $255.64 and its 200 day moving average is $267.08. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.39 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

About Salesforce

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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