Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 506,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $102,660,000 after acquiring an additional 20,625 shares in the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.9% during the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 19,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $275.17. 4,707,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,493,350. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.07. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $266.36 billion, a PE ratio of 65.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total value of $4,386,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,521,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total transaction of $4,386,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,521,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,212,898 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

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.