Public Sector Pension Investment Board Reduces Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 637,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 101,701 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 0.7% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $173,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 57.4% during the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 8.5% during the second quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $56,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 148,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $40,427,000 after acquiring an additional 12,544 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, November 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.46.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $262.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $245.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.25. 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 1 year low of $221.96 and a 1 year high of $367.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be paid 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 yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 177,534 shares of company stock valued at $42,194,197 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

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.