Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,816 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,414 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 14,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 973.3% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 1,931 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $5,297,000. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,469 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,755,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of CRM traded down $21.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $272.90. The stock had a trading volume of 18,309,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,284. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $298.82 and its 200 day moving average is $259.77. The firm has a market cap 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.