Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased 8,902 shares of Salesforce Inc. valued at approximately $2.4 million, marking its new position in the company.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $2.91, surpassing consensus estimates by $0.13, and a revenue increase of 9.8% year-over-year.
• Salesforce announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and indicating a sustainable payout ratio of 24.13%.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,902 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,427,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Salesforce by 383.3% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the company's 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 completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.64, for a total transaction of $527,940.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,794,931,019.44. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,521,495. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Northland Capmk cut Salesforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.6%

CRM opened at $245.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $244.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.05. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were 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 was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

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.

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