Meyer Handelman Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Meyer Handelman Co. cut its Salesforce stake by 47.9% in the first quarter, selling 13,506 shares and leaving it with 14,710 shares worth about $2.75 million.
• Salesforce’s latest earnings topped expectations, with $3.88 EPS versus the $3.13 consensus and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
• The company also authorized a $25 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $257.61.

Meyer Handelman Co. lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 47.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,710 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 13,506 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth approximately $8,923,000. Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its position in Salesforce by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 8,752 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,634,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Salesforce by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,803 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 70,011 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,069,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Norway Savings Bank raised its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 11,986 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,237,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $150.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $123.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $276.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $257.61.

Salesforce Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.