Capital Analysts LLC Raises Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,026 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $21.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $272.90. The company had a trading volume of 18,307,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,249. The company has a market capitalization of $264.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.57 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day moving average is $259.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,958,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,880,100,241.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,375 shares of company stock worth $262,519,346 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company 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.