WestEnd Advisors LLC Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,812 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,270 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.0% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $41,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 6.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $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 first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 4.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,707,316,000 after purchasing an additional 295,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.42, for a total transaction of $567,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,718,751.82. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,679,535. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $239.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $245.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.67. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities research analysts forecast 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 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.13%.

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.