Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Director David Blair Kirk Buys 2,570 Shares

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4%

Salesforce stock opened at $194.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $174.57 and a one year high of $296.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.21.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.