Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 3.020-3.040 EPS.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.9%

CRM opened at $247.92 on Friday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $221.96 and a fifty-two week high of $367.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $242.92 and its 200 day moving average is $253.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.12, for a total value of $565,020.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,233,709.52. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 184,284 shares of company stock valued at $43,862,999 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,732,966,000 after acquiring an additional 159,739 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,891,552 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $922,303,000 after purchasing an additional 130,150 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 285.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,487,627 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,117 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $484,852,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 27.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,679,186 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $397,967,000 after purchasing an additional 362,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.27.

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.