Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Sells 262,410 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lowered its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,242,188 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 262,410 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 3.1% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $285,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $266,000. Paragon Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,714 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 190.6% during the 3rd quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 13,197 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in Salesforce by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,663 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, First Merchants Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.12.

Salesforce Stock Up 4.5%

Salesforce stock opened at $246.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $230.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.50. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade helped lift Salesforce, adding to favorable sentiment around its valuation, earnings outlook and AI growth prospects. Salesforce Shares Climb on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce benefited from broad strength in enterprise software and a major United Kingdom deal, while technical analysts pointed to a bullish flag breakout, a double-bottom pattern and a weekly reversal that could extend the recovery. Why Is Salesforce Stock Gaining Thursday? Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: ZoomInfo was named a flagship data partner for Salesforce’s new Hunter outbound sales agent. Hunter will combine CRM data with live intelligence to identify prospects and recommend next actions, reinforcing Salesforce’s strategy of embedding AI into Sales Cloud. ZoomInfo Named a Flagship Data Partner for Hunter
• Positive Sentiment: One investment-fund review argued that Salesforce’s AI integration is increasing the value of its core enterprise platform. Another comparison gave Salesforce an edge over ServiceNow based on stronger earnings-estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation. Salesforce AI Integration Enhances Platform Value Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow. Salesforce generates more revenue, but ServiceNow has posted faster and more consistent year-over-year growth, highlighting the need for Salesforce to accelerate its expansion. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow Revenue Trends
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain skeptical that agentic AI will meaningfully improve Salesforce’s profits, particularly because many customers have not yet upgraded to newer offerings. That uncertainty could limit further gains until AI monetization becomes clearer. Agentic AI Skepticism

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.