Strs Ohio Invests $100.47 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 374,393 shares of Salesforce Inc., worth approximately $100.47 million, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.
• Salesforce's stock experienced a decline of 3.7% and has a current market capitalization of $230.98 billion, with a 1-year price range of $226.48 to $369.00.
• Salesforce recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, which will be paid on October 9th, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 374,393 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $100,472,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coign Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.66, for a total transaction of $554,985.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,938,108,102.86. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,577 shares of company stock worth $18,005,778 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $243.03. 3,698,306 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,535,896. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $253.21 and a 200-day moving average of $264.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $231.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG 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 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is currently 24.13%.

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.