Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Trims Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC reduced its position in Salesforce Inc. by 4.4% in Q2, holding 79,750 shares valued at approximately $21.7 million.
• Salesforce reported a 9.8% year-over-year revenue growth with quarterly earnings surpassing estimates at $2.91 EPS.
• Salesforce declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, showcasing a dividend payout ratio of 24.13%.

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,750 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,698 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 87.3% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 45.8% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,070 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total value of $597,982.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,165,738,224.67. 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 three months, insiders have sold 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $20,357,213. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $240.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $228.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $246.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.32. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. DA Davidson raised Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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