Gradient Investments LLC Cuts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,817 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,357 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sachetta LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7,486.6% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 93,467 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $31,277,000 after acquiring an additional 92,235 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,858 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 39,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,306,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock valued at $402,840,388 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $333.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $319.13 billion, a PE ratio of 54.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.