Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,898 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 260.0% during the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 383.3% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6%

CRM stock opened at $240.25 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. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $246.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.32. The stock has a market cap of $228.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued 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 payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total value of $597,982.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,165,738,224.67. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.