BNP Paribas Raises Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

BNP Paribas grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,840 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 1.4% of BNP Paribas’ holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $42,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the first quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 10,535 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 5.0% in the first quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.46.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:CRM opened at $264.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $247.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $244.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,784 shares of company stock worth $42,742,994. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.