Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Purchases 11,897 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,177 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,897 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.2% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6%

CRM stock opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.52 and a 1-year high of $276.80. The stock has a market cap of $149.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities cut their target price on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.85.

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.