Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 11,820 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,348 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 11,820 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $68,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Painted Porch Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $244.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $232.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.38, for a total transaction of $606,105.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,208,738,995.98. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,500 shares of company stock worth $19,402,583 in the last three months. 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.