Craig Conway Sells 4,500 Shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $259.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $191.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,424 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,110,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13,260.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 188,085,056 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,465,405,000 after purchasing an additional 186,677,290 shares during the period. DMC Group LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 43.5% during the 2nd quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 154.9% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,477 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 6,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. CLSA started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.50.

About Salesforce

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.