UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Increases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 6.9% in the first quarter, owning over 9 million shares valued at approximately $2.48 billion.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, sold 2,250 shares at an average price of $241.50, reducing his ownership by 0.02%.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.91 per share, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 to be paid on October 9th.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.6% of UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.96% of Salesforce worth $2,484,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $333.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total value of $543,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,644,396.50. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $251.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $255.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $239.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.