Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Investors heavily bought 131,900 call options on Salesforce, marking a 104% increase from the usual volume of 64,647 options.
• Insider trading activity included Director David Blair Kirk purchasing 3,400 shares, boosting his ownership by 801.89%, while CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.91, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $10.24 billion, which reflects a 9.8% year-over-year increase.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 131,900 call options on the company. This is an increase of 104% compared to the typical volume of 64,647 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $531,855.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,747,868 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CRM shares. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $245.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.80. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $234.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 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.

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