Team Hewins LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Team Hewins LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,387 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,681,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.94.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,474 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.59, for a total value of $731,289.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,858,365.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.59, for a total transaction of $731,289.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,858,365.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 651,344 shares of company stock worth $189,278,724. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of CRM traded down $5.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $278.54. 5,453,079 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,310,723. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.63 billion, a PE ratio of 66.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. 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 (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for 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%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.
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.
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