Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,182 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.9% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,430 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.6% during the second 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 purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $9,367,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Salesforce by 31.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 344,887 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,016,000 after purchasing an additional 81,916 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 25.3% during the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,243 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Northland Capmk lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 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, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total value of $566,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,997,665,957.86. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 76,622 shares of company stock valued at $18,858,631 over the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.6%

CRM stock opened at $252.82 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $248.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.26. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $240.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 2.11 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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