Smith Group Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Smith Group Asset Management purchased 188,800 Salesforce shares worth approximately $43.3 million, making CRM 2.8% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce is pursuing usage-based AI billing for Agentforce, aiming to improve AI monetization, though investors remain cautious about adoption, revenue predictability and slowing underlying growth.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90 versus a $3.27 consensus and 10.8% year-over-year revenue growth. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $278.98, compared with the reported share price of $242.37.

Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 188,800 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $43,343,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 2.8% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Salesforce by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,188,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561,923 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $844,928,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Usage-based AI billing could improve monetization. Salesforce plans to begin charging customers based on the volume of AI-agent calls in November, moving beyond a purely seat-based model. New Agent Fabric tools for testing, evaluation and cost controls may help customers adopt agents and give Salesforce a clearer path to growing AI revenue. Salesforce Brings In Usage Based AI Billing With New Agent Fabric Controls
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce is strengthening the generative-AI investment case. Recent commentary points to improving Agentforce traction and supports the view that Salesforce can use its large customer base to commercialize AI capabilities, potentially accelerating growth beyond its core customer-management software. Agentforce Growth Strengthens Salesforce’s Generative AI Narrative
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and valuation coverage remains generally constructive. Zacks describes CRM as a highly ranked growth stock, while other analysis argues the shares look inexpensive relative to Salesforce’s earnings power. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed strong earnings, revenue growth and profitability, supporting the bullish case. Salesforce Stock Looks Cheap Relative To Its Earnings Power
• Neutral Sentiment: Product expansion adds ecosystem value. Fastcall launched mobile calling and SMS integrations for Salesforce on iPhone and Android, broadening customer-engagement functionality, although the third-party announcement is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Fastcall Launches Fastcall Mobile
• Negative Sentiment: Recent volatility reflects execution and valuation concerns. CRM fell in the previous session even as the broader market advanced, suggesting investors remain cautious about whether AI growth will offset slower underlying growth and justify the stock’s valuation. The shift to usage-based pricing also introduces uncertainty around revenue predictability and customer adoption.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.98.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

CRM stock opened at $242.37 on Thursday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The company has a market capitalization of $199.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50-day moving average is $237.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.