Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Hartline Investment Corp

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 8.0%, now holding 18,799 shares worth approximately $5.13 million after selling 1,626 shares.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.91, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 24.13%.

Hartline Investment Corp cut its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,799 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,626 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $467,944,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first 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. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $345,100,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.64, for a total value of $527,940.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,794,931,019.44. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,521,495. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $243.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $231.59 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $244.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.87. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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 business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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