Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,857 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after buying an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after acquiring an additional 600,386 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,362,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,707,316,000 after acquiring an additional 295,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.79, for a total value of $539,527.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,856,275,610.09. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 76,500 shares of company stock valued at $19,049,130 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:CRM opened at $242.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $244.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.64. The company has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson raised Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.89.

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.