Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Boosted by Park National Corp OH

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH increased its holdings in Salesforce by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, owning a total of 114,532 shares valued at $31.2 million.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, sold 2,250 shares recently, reducing his ownership by 0.02%, while Director David Blair Kirk significantly increased his stake by 801.89%.
• Salesforce reported earnings per share of $2.91 for its latest quarter, surpassing estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416 with an upcoming payment date of October 9th.

Park National Corp OH grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,532 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,901 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after acquiring an additional 600,386 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after acquiring an additional 602,445 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.91, for a total transaction of $548,797.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,905,351,282.61. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,827 shares of company stock worth $18,554,576. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CRM stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $242.33. 7,191,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,557,481. The company has a market capitalization of $230.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $253.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.29. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. Research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

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.