Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys New Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 122,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,436,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 260.0% in the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Salesforce by 383.3% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $565,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,233,709.52. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,122 shares of company stock worth $17,785,853. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3%

CRM opened at $239.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $228.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.32. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

About Salesforce

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.