Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $44,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Legal Advantage Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3 %

Salesforce stock opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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 company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 596,379 shares of company stock worth $175,587,970 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.