Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 131,900 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 104% compared to the average volume of 64,647 call options.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%

CRM opened at $245.85 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.80. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $234.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were 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 owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $531,855.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,747,868 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first 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 during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson upgraded Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.58.

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.