NBT Bank N.A. Purchases 13,258 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,044,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $250.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $235.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a market cap of $206.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. Analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, adding real-time consumer-event processing and marketing capabilities that could strengthen Marketing Cloud and support its Agentforce AI strategy. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: UBS described the deal as a strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing offering and accelerate consolidation across the software industry. Salesforce’s Braze deal wins UBS backing on strategy, but growth concerns remain
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and set a $300 price target, implying further upside based on Salesforce’s AI, data and customer-engagement opportunities. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce rating
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a selective rebound in enterprise software names that had been pressured by artificial-intelligence disruption fears. Salesforce has substantially outperformed the broader market over the past six months, raising expectations that improving growth and AI monetization are already influencing investor sentiment. Adobe Jumps as Software Names Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: The all-cash purchase represents a sizable commitment and carries a 58% premium to Braze’s value. Analysts cautioned that Salesforce still must demonstrate stronger organic growth, realize synergies and secure antitrust clearance; those concerns initially pressured the shares after the announcement. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought 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. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.