Westchester Capital Management Inc. Takes $12.15 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 44,558 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,151,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 2.9% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% in the first 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 valued at $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 5.1% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,707,316,000 after purchasing an additional 295,681 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.34, for a total transaction of $540,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,862,826,974.14. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 76,500 shares of company stock worth $19,049,130. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE CRM opened at $242.11 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $244.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.64. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.89.

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.