Payden & Rygel Makes New Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Payden & Rygel purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 61,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,164,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Latitude Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $289.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rune Technologies, a defense-technology company. The deal supports Salesforce’s push into military and government applications, potentially expanding its addressable market and adding a specialized technology platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Rune Technologies
• Positive Sentiment: TPM Holdings completed an 18-month realignment centered on Salesforce CRM and artificial intelligence for the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Its combination of TrebleHook and The Hunley Group could expand Salesforce-based implementations and demonstrate growing demand for industry-specific AI tools. TPM Holdings Accelerates Investment in AI and Salesforce CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and investment articles describe Salesforce as a potential AI rebound candidate, citing autonomous AI agents, improving monetization, strong free cash flow and its leadership in customer relationship management. These views may support longer-term sentiment, although they are not new company guidance. AI Comeback Story Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s earnings report is approaching, making upcoming revenue growth, AI adoption, margins and forward guidance the main near-term catalysts. The company’s latest reported quarter included revenue of $11.35 billion and adjusted earnings that exceeded consensus estimates. Salesforce Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce declined in sympathy with ServiceNow, Fortinet and other software stocks after investors focused on slower contracted-revenue growth despite earnings beats and higher AI targets. The reaction has renewed concerns about enterprise-software demand, AI monetization timelines and elevated sector valuations. ServiceNow Results Dent Software Stocks

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $228.56 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $269.11. The company has a market cap of $188.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $238.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.88.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Salesforce 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.