Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 8,967 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 35.1%, acquiring an additional 8,967 shares during the second quarter, bringing their total to 34,513 shares valued at approximately $9.41 million.
• Salesforce recently reported earnings of $2.91 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with quarterly revenue of $10.24 billion, which marked a year-over-year increase of 9.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, which will be paid on October 9th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,513 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,967 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.9% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,251 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.3% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:CRM opened at $240.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $246.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.94, for a total value of $566,865.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,001,001,197.74. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,747,868. 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.

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