Morton Community Bank Buys Shares of 10,997 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Morton Community Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 10,997 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,999,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,814,000 after buying an additional 3,387 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 57.4% during the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.5% in the second quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $56,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.2% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 148,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $40,427,000 after purchasing an additional 12,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $260.78 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.96 and a fifty-two week high of $367.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $248.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $243.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.88.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 184,284 shares of company stock valued at $43,862,999. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.54.

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.