BankPlus Trust Department Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

BankPlus Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,068 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the quarter. BankPlus Trust Department’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $345,100,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Bank of America cut their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.58.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.42, for a total value of $567,945.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,718,751.82. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,679,535. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $239.91 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $245.62 and a 200 day moving average of $259.67. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $228.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

Salesforce 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.