Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 344,195 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI significantly reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 61.2%, selling 344,195 shares in the first quarter, and currently holds 217,930 shares valued at approximately $58.48 million.
• Salesforce recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.91 EPS, exceeding estimates, with quarterly revenue reaching $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a $0.416 quarterly dividend to be paid on October 9th, indicating a yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 24.13%.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 61.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,930 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 344,195 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI's holdings in Salesforce were worth $58,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 5.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after acquiring an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,874,900,000 after acquiring an additional 114,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $251.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.91. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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 on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total transaction of $543,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,876,644,396.50. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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