Vest Financial LLC Has $45.19 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 21.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190,692 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,092 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $45,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Salesforce by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Salesforce by 45.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,931,945 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,072,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,969 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $220.24 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.64. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $219.35 and a 1 year high of $367.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $206.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $580,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,567,632.20. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 147,677 shares of company stock worth $34,865,371. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. BTIG Research started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $335.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.51.

Salesforce Profile

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.