California Public Employees Retirement System Has $539.35 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,977,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 197,065 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.21% of Salesforce worth $539,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,826,049,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $467,944,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.12, for a total transaction of $565,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,233,709.52. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 184,284 shares of company stock valued at $43,862,999 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $316.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.54.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $260.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.96 and a 1-year high of $367.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.