HCR Wealth Advisors Takes $310,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HCR Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,179 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $2,762,331,000. 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 worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,653.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,400,300 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $6.28 on Friday, hitting $272.29. The stock had a trading volume of 8,325,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,819,083. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $286.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.17. The company has a market cap of $263.58 billion, a PE ratio of 64.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.46, for a total value of $4,506,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,371,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,500,536.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.46, for a total transaction of $4,506,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,371,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,500,536.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.41, for a total transaction of $1,746,372.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 636,344 shares of company stock worth $184,877,874. 3.20% of the stock is 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.