Saudi Central Bank Purchases 21,246 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Saudi Central Bank boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 61.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,832 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,246 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 199 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. HSBC raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Salesforce from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.50.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9%

CRM opened at $259.39 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.88 and a 200-day moving average of $185.00. The stock has a market cap of $213.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.