Peregrine Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Peregrine Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc., purchasing 20,000 shares valued at approximately $5.45 million, making it the firm's 15th largest position.
• Salesforce reported $2.91 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.78, and had a quarterly revenue of $10.24 billion, up 9.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, set to be paid on October 9th.

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,454,000. Salesforce comprises approximately 3.5% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% during the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 7.3% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CRM opened at $244.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $232.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $250.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.25.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.19, for a total transaction of $558,427.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,956,332,806.49. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,500 shares of company stock valued at $19,402,583 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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