W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Reduces Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,963 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 593 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% in 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. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $1.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $244.83. 645,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,703,589. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $246.72 and its 200 day moving average is $257.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.13%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 69,872 shares of company stock valued at $17,257,913 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.