Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,008 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $345,100,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total transaction of $531,855.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,747,868. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $240.25 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.66 and its 200-day moving average is $260.05. The stock has a market cap of $228.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

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.