VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $48.11 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 307,101 Salesforce shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $48.11 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of the company.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with adjusted EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus estimate and revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year. AI-focused Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, growing more than 210%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $266.50. Salesforce also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 307,101 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $48,110,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 285.7% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $259.39 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $213.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.88 and a 200-day moving average of $184.96.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 16.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. HC Wainwright cut Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Salesforce from $236.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $266.50.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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