Balefire LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Balefire LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,318 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LifePlan Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.6% in the second quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC now owns 8,760 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 15,924 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,342,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $684,000. Emprise Bank grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Emprise Bank now owns 4,736 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $242.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $251.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.58. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $230.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,077 shares of company stock worth $19,099,953. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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