State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 2,571 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Alaska’s revenue department trimmed its Salesforce stake by 3.2%, selling 2,571 shares and retaining 77,583 shares valued at approximately $17.81 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year, while EPS of $5.90 exceeded estimates of $3.27. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44, equivalent to a 0.7% yield.
• Investor sentiment remains broadly positive: Salesforce shares recently rose 3.4%, and analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $278.12. However, some investors remain concerned about whether AI investments will generate substantial additional profits.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,583 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,571 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.4%

Salesforce stock traded up $8.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $244.06. 4,579,499 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,553,821. The company's fifty day moving average price is $229.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.02. The company has a market cap of $200.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. 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 issued 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 company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades support the stock. Salesforce shares gained following recent analyst upgrades, reflecting increased confidence in the company’s earnings outlook and potential for further appreciation. Salesforce Shares Climb on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: AI integration is strengthening Salesforce’s core platform. Harris Oakmark highlighted Salesforce’s ability to integrate AI into its enterprise software, potentially increasing customer value and supporting long-term growth. A separate comparison concluded that Salesforce has stronger earnings-estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation than ServiceNow. Salesforce AI Integration Enhances Platform Value Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Positive Sentiment: Hunter sales agent gains a data partnership. ZoomInfo’s designation as a flagship data partner for Salesforce’s new Hunter outbound sales agent provides evidence of ecosystem support for Sales Cloud’s AI capabilities. Hunter uses live prospect intelligence to help prioritize accounts and recommend sales actions. ZoomInfo Named a Flagship Data Partner for Hunter
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector sentiment is improving. ServiceNow’s denial of acquisition interest in Decagon helped lift parts of the enterprise-software group, indirectly benefiting Salesforce. However, the development does not materially change Salesforce’s fundamentals. ServiceNow and Salesforce Market Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain skeptical about AI monetization. Despite strong earnings, the market continues to question whether agentic AI will generate meaningful incremental profit. Salesforce also faces slower reported revenue growth than ServiceNow and must convert AI adoption into measurable expansion. Agentic AI Skepticism

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Freedom Broker increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.12.

About Salesforce

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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