Park National Corp OH Sells 23,593 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH reduced its Salesforce stake by 12.5% in the third quarter, selling 23,593 shares and retaining 165,114 shares valued at approximately $37.9 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $5.90, exceeding the $3.27 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $275.14, despite the stock trading down 2.4% to $229.09.

Park National Corp OH lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,114 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 23,593 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.0% of Park National Corp OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Salesforce were worth $37,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adelphi Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the third quarter. Adelphi Trust Co now owns 3,903 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 6,213 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 52,240 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $11,993,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.8% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,746 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.4%

CRM stock traded down $5.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $229.09. 2,665,142 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,832,330. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.78.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 16.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $275.14.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company's product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.

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