SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 11,228 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC purchased 11,228 shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $3,013,000.
• Salesforce has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a current consensus price target of $332.58 and multiple price target adjustments, the highest being $347.00 and the lowest $225.00.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%, which will be paid on October 9th to stockholders of record as of September 17th.

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,228 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,013,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.0% in the first quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 4,437 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.7% in the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,598 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,817,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 22.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,006,000 after buying an additional 6,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $302,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,577 shares of company stock valued at $18,005,778. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5%

CRM stock traded up $3.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $246.26. 6,940,645 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,011,086. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. 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 predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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