Meridiem Capital Partners LP Invests $46.41 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Meridiem Capital Partners bought 195,823 shares of Salesforce valued at approximately $46.41 million, making CRM about 3.0% of the firm's holdings and its 10th largest position.
• Salesforce beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $3.81 versus $3.05 expected and revenue of $11.20 billion (up 12.1% year-over-year), and set FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 and Q1 2027 guidance of 3.110–3.130.
• Salesforce increased its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share (annualized $1.76), up from $0.42, implying a yield of about 0.9%.

Meridiem Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 195,823 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,410,000. Salesforce accounts for about 3.0% of Meridiem Capital Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 155 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:CRM traded down $2.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,950,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,557,490. The company has a market capitalization of $181.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.57 and a 1-year high of $296.05. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $211.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Northland Securities cut their price target on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research reduced their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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