Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,517 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,037 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $28,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,786 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,430 shares during the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 59,970 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,367,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 31.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 344,887 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,016,000 after purchasing an additional 81,916 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.8% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 110,968 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,260,000 after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $243.27 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.79. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $231.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 24.13%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total value of $536,332.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,839,361,179.27. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 76,500 shares of company stock worth $18,929,903. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.