Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Acquires 489,136 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,116,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 489,136 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 3.0% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $577,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after buying an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,669,224,000 after acquiring an additional 114,504 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $2,419,037,000 after purchasing an additional 437,435 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $243.86 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $246.51 and a 200-day moving average of $257.63. 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 twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $232.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.66, for a total transaction of $554,985.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,938,108,102.86. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 67,622 shares of company stock worth $16,714,561. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.