Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 694,543 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 297,003 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $189,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 714.3% during the 1st quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 227,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $61,186,000 after buying an additional 199,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, November 24th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,284 shares of company stock valued at $43,862,999. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $260.78 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.96 and a 1 year high of $367.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

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.