Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires 428,343 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 3,210.7% during the 1st quarter, owning a total of 441,684 shares valued at approximately $118.53 million.
• Salesforce recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $2.91, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.78, and a revenue of $10.24 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, which will be paid on October 9th, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3,210.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 441,684 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 428,343 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $118,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $333.11.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $251.83. 12,002,600 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,505,839. The firm has a market cap of $239.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $255.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.32. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly 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, analysts forecast 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.13%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Company 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.