Vest Financial LLC Buys 47,862 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 43.6% in Q2, acquiring an additional 47,862 shares to control 157,600 shares worth approximately $42.98 million.
• Salesforce's stock price recently dipped by 1.3%, opening at $242.11, while the company has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19.
• A recent earnings report showed that Salesforce beat expectations with $2.91 earnings per share, while analysts predict a 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 43.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,600 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,862 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $42,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lion Street Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $285,000. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the second quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,697 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,553,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 28.8% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 30,513 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,321,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group increased its holdings in Salesforce by 21.6% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 6,039 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 8.7% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 3,462 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Salesforce from $380.00 to $365.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $331.89.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $242.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $230.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $244.68 and its 200 day moving average is $258.64.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.34, for a total value of $540,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,862,826,974.14. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,500 shares of company stock worth $19,049,130. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce 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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