38,669 Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 335,326 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 38,669 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $76,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 28.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,188,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561,923 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $234.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Susquehanna began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Braze for $47.50 per share in cash, a roughly 58% premium. Braze’s real-time customer data and engagement technology could strengthen Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud and provide infrastructure for its Agentforce artificial-intelligence platform. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory review. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Braze
• Positive Sentiment: UBS called the deal a solid strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing capabilities and encourage broader consolidation across the software industry. The acquisition may allow Salesforce to add capabilities faster than building comparable real-time data infrastructure internally. 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 substantial upside from recent trading levels. Other recent commentary highlighted Salesforce’s strong cash generation, approximately 22% net margin, active buyback program and improving AI- and data-related growth prospects.
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce has significantly outperformed the broader market over the past six months, and valuation-focused research from Zacks describes CRM as a highly ranked value stock. However, comparisons with Oracle and Autodesk indicate that investors are still assessing which software companies offer the best combination of growth and valuation. Salesforce is a Top-Ranked Value Stock
• Negative Sentiment: The immediate market reaction has been negative because Salesforce is paying a large premium for a target that remains unprofitable, while committing significant cash to another major acquisition following its Informatica and Loops investments. Investors are concerned about integration costs, overlapping operations, antitrust scrutiny and the risk that the deal distracts from organic growth.
• Negative Sentiment: UBS also warned that the Braze transaction could renew questions about Salesforce’s ability to generate faster organic growth. The stock’s direction will likely depend on whether management can retain Braze’s customers, integrate its technology and convert the combined platform into accelerating revenue and Agentforce adoption.

About Salesforce

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.