Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.2%, bringing its total holdings to 267,821 shares valued at approximately $73 million according to its recent SEC filing.
• Salesforce reported $2.91 earnings per share for its latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and affirmed guidance for FY 2026 earnings between 11.330-11.370 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%, with dividends payable on October 9, 2023.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,821 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,753 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $73,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.6% in 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. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $345,100,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $244.95 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $248.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.22. The company has a market capitalization of $233.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce's 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.91, for a total transaction of $546,547.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,893,439,711.61. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,889,213. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced 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, September 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company 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 given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.58.

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.

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