Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 171,020 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,172,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 171,020 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $218,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:CRM opened at $163.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.31. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $274.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays raised Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded it a $1.6 billion, three-year agreement to help modernize veteran care and services through its Missionforce platform, a major enterprise and government win that could support future revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted Salesforce as part of a broader rally in enterprise software tied to government AI deals, suggesting investors are rewarding the company’s AI-driven growth story and large-addressable-market opportunity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also announced equity awards for new employees joining from the acquisitions of Qualified and MeshMesh, reinforcing that the company is still using M&A and talent integration to expand its product capabilities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces discussed Salesforce’s longer-term outlook and AI platform strategy, including third-party takes on catalysts and new apps built on Salesforce, which support the stock’s narrative but are less immediate drivers than the VA deal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One article flagged a “critical security test” for Salesforce, which could raise investor concerns about execution and platform trust, though it is not as immediate as the contract news. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce was also mentioned in a piece about the company falling more than the broader market the prior day, reflecting that the stock has still been under pressure despite the recent upbeat headlines. Article Title

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.