LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Grows Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,955 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,158 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.8% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% in the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $531,855.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $240.25 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

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.