Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Purchased by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 367,924 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,276 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.0% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $84,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $610,974,000. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $25,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $228.32. 1,989,397 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,672,909. The stock has a market cap of $187.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $225.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.67. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $289.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Argus increased their price target 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. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Profile

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.