Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Purchases 47,302 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. significantly increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 4,156.6%, owning approximately $13.21 million worth of shares following the acquisition of additional 47,302 shares.
• The stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with price targets ranging from $221.00 to $430.00 as several firms have upgraded or downgraded their positions in recent reports.
• Salesforce announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%, indicating ongoing shareholder returns despite fluctuations in stock performance.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4,156.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,440 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 47,302 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth approximately $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.38, for a total value of $606,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,208,738,995.98. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,250 shares of company stock valued at $18,844,155 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $2.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $249.64. 7,518,279 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,219,225. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $250.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $237.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

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.