Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Bought by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8,000.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $844,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $234.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26.

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 company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $289.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

More Salesforce News

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.

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.