Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Acquires 6,128 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 6,128 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Freedom Broker boosted their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.6%

CRM stock traded down $1.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $248.79. 5,840,500 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,129,057. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $236.30 and its 200 day moving average is $196.88. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $204.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI products are reportedly growing at triple-digit rates, while its Agentforce platform and more than $14 billion in annual free cash flow could support profitable expansion. The company’s valuation may look attractive if AI adoption accelerates. Salesforce Is Betting Big on AI. The Payoff Could Be Bigger Than Investors Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “Overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in Salesforce’s growth outlook and AI transition. Salesforce Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: The $5.66 billion Braze purchase could expand Salesforce’s customer-engagement capabilities and strengthen its push from AI defense toward a broader autonomous-agent strategy. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons with Adobe, Arista Networks and Snowflake highlight Salesforce’s CRM leadership, focus on profitable growth and AI-agent pivot, but do not represent new company-specific developments. Salesforce vs. Snowflake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be concerned that the Braze acquisition’s $5.66 billion price will increase integration risk and pressure near-term returns. Questions about contracts, pricing and customer impact could temper enthusiasm for the deal. Salesforce to Buy Braze for $5.66B

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.