AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 120.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,165,101 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 636,148 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $317,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $56,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 148,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $40,427,000 after acquiring an additional 12,544 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 177,534 shares of company stock worth $42,194,197. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $262.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $245.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.26. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $221.96 and a one year high of $367.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 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.