Simmons Bank Sells 16,373 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Simmons Bank cut its Salesforce stake by 43.9% in the first quarter, selling 16,373 shares and ending with 20,958 shares worth about $3.91 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 topping estimates and revenue of $11.13 billion exceeding expectations; revenue rose 13.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a $25 billion share repurchase plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, while Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with a target price of $255.14.

Simmons Bank trimmed its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 43.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 16,373 shares during the period. Simmons Bank's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,106,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Salesforce by 924.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,028,807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,605 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:CRM opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $129.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $255.14.

Salesforce 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.

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