Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 5,748 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 5,748 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the second quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the second quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 35.7% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,215,329 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $876,788,000 after buying an additional 845,389 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 5,643 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcrae Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the second quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,464,000 after purchasing an additional 6,975 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Bank of America cut their price target 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price 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. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 74,372 shares of company stock valued at $18,317,866 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $239.27 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $227.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $247.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given 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 was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Salesforce Company 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.