Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Salesforce Call Options (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 131,900 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 104% compared to the average volume of 64,647 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven 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 price target of $332.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.42, for a total value of $567,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,718,751.82. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,679,535. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $240.23 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $228.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $245.13 and its 200 day moving average is $259.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.13%.

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.