Capital International Investors Acquires 1,729,440 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,051,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,729,440 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,753,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 40.9% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $198.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $183.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $296.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $215.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.46.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.14.

About Salesforce

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.