FORA Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 22,291 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc., purchasing 22,291 shares valued at approximately $5.98 million.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, sold 2,250 shares for nearly $578,295, indicating ongoing insider activity amid a backdrop of high institutional ownership at over 80%.
• Salesforce recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.58 per share, exceeding estimates, with projected earnings guidance for FY 2026 set between 11.270-11.330 EPS.

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,291 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,982,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $467,944,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 10.0% in the first quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 197,840 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $53,092,000 after buying an additional 17,956 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.4% in the first quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,361,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 1,239 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 904,129 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $242,632,000 after acquiring an additional 143,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 59,327 shares of company stock worth $15,201,738 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CRM traded up $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $256.37. 7,318,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,225,816. The company has a market cap of $245.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.43.

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.