Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock: Sepio Capital LP Reduces Position

Sepio Capital LP cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,191 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,241 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV grew its position in Salesforce by 0.7% in the third quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 6,422 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 3,396 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,714 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% in the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $250.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $206.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26. 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 50 day moving average of $235.24 and a 200-day moving average of $196.52. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, adding real-time consumer-event processing and marketing capabilities that could strengthen Marketing Cloud and support its Agentforce AI strategy. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: UBS described the deal as a strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing offering and accelerate consolidation across the software industry. 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 further upside based on Salesforce’s AI, data and customer-engagement opportunities. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce rating
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a selective rebound in enterprise software names that had been pressured by artificial-intelligence disruption fears. Salesforce has substantially outperformed the broader market over the past six months, raising expectations that improving growth and AI monetization are already influencing investor sentiment. Adobe Jumps as Software Names Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: The all-cash purchase represents a sizable commitment and carries a 58% premium to Braze’s value. Analysts cautioned that Salesforce still must demonstrate stronger organic growth, realize synergies and secure antitrust clearance; those concerns initially pressured the shares after the announcement. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $289.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.