Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,048 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after buying an additional 1,400,300 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after buying an additional 718,245 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $114,521,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $5.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $270.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,948,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,591,513. The company has a market cap of $262.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.03, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $295.69 and its 200 day moving average is $265.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.95, for a total transaction of $4,244,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,626,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,523,669.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.95, for a total transaction of $4,244,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,626,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,855,523,669.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,197,018 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.