Voya Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 7.9% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 3.25 million shares valued at about $871 million.
• Salesforce recently announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.416 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.7%.
• Analysts have varied target prices for Salesforce, with the consensus rating indicating a Moderate Buy and an average target price of $332.58.

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,247,404 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 279,691 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.0% of Voya Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.34% of Salesforce worth $871,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Notis McConarty Edward lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,036,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $274,802,000 after purchasing an additional 15,782 shares during the period. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,133,000 after purchasing an additional 31,537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $242.68. 8,382,442 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,981,092. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $253.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $231.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for 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%. Salesforce'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 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,938,108,102.86. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,577 shares of company stock valued at $18,005,778 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Profile

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.