Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Has $365,000 Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC has significantly reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 69.0%, owning 1,340 shares valued at $365,000 following the sale of 2,976 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes Director David Blair Kirk purchasing 3,400 shares at $254.66 each, resulting in a 801.89% increase in his ownership, while CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares, decreasing his ownership by 0.02%.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly EPS of $2.91, exceeding analysts' estimates, along with a quarterly revenue of $10.24 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 9.8%.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,340 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,976 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coign Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $897,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. KDT Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 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, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total transaction of $597,982.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,738,224.67. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:CRM opened at $239.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.74, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.59. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $226.48 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last 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. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

About Salesforce

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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