Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,802 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its position in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 47.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital grew its stake in Salesforce by 153.2% in the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,575 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $6.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $268.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,211,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,632,453. The company has a market cap of $260.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.03, 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 $295.34 and its 200 day moving average is $265.65. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Argus lifted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $17,230,643.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 625,793 shares of company stock valued at $183,318,868 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company 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.