Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,009,953 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,367 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.52% of Salesforce worth $1,366,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after buying an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $467,944,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Salesforce by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,413 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,534 shares of company stock worth $42,194,197. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $262.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.96 and a 1-year high of $367.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $245.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.26. The company has a market capitalization of $245.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Salesforce 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.