WestEnd Advisors LLC Purchases 12,270 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,812 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,270 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.0% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $41,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,786 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after buying an additional 6,430 shares during the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 59,970 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares during the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,367,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 344,887 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,016,000 after buying an additional 81,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 110,968 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,260,000 after buying an additional 7,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.42, for a total value of $567,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,718,751.82. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,679,535. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $239.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.67. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $228.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce’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. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.