Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 19,920 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management increased its Salesforce stake by 71.9% in the third quarter, purchasing 19,920 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 47,618 shares valued at approximately $10.9 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce, while the stock recently traded at $248.79. Shares have risen from a 200-day moving average of $196.88 but remain below the 52-week high of $269.11.
• Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion and EPS of $5.90, exceeding analyst estimates, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $278.98.

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 71.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,618 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,920 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $610,974,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.79. The stock had a trading volume of 5,840,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,129,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $236.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $204.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 16.04%.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI products are reportedly growing at triple-digit rates, while its Agentforce platform and more than $14 billion in annual free cash flow could support profitable expansion. The company’s valuation may look attractive if AI adoption accelerates. Salesforce Is Betting Big on AI. The Payoff Could Be Bigger Than Investors Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “Overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in Salesforce’s growth outlook and AI transition. Salesforce Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: The $5.66 billion Braze purchase could expand Salesforce’s customer-engagement capabilities and strengthen its push from AI defense toward a broader autonomous-agent strategy. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons with Adobe, Arista Networks and Snowflake highlight Salesforce’s CRM leadership, focus on profitable growth and AI-agent pivot, but do not represent new company-specific developments. Salesforce vs. Snowflake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be concerned that the Braze acquisition’s $5.66 billion price will increase integration risk and pressure near-term returns. Questions about contracts, pricing and customer impact could temper enthusiasm for the deal. Salesforce to Buy Braze for $5.66B

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Salesforce 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.

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