ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 13,962 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 311,109 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 13,962 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $73,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank grew its position in Salesforce by 658.8% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $193.89 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.79 and its 200-day moving average is $244.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $185.73 and a 52 week high of $331.75. The company has a market capitalization of $181.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Profile

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.