Saudi Central Bank Buys 21,246 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Saudi Central Bank raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,832 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,246 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 683,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $181,143,000 after purchasing an additional 24,332 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 17,394 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,265,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,004,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,846,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE CRM opened at $259.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.00. 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 fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. CLSA initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus raised their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.