Lewis Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Lewis Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,271 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,000. Salesforce comprises 1.8% of Lewis Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 463.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 370.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 29,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after purchasing an additional 12,371 shares during the period. Finally, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $341,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Salesforce Trading Down 3.5 %
CRM opened at $294.14 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.31 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $296.96 and a 200-day moving average of $255.27. The stock has a market cap of $285.32 billion, a PE ratio of 70.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.28.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 913,175 shares of company stock worth $262,199,146. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.97.
View Our Latest Analysis on CRM
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Salesforce, you’ll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Salesforce wasn’t on the list.
While Salesforce currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
As the AI market heats up, investors who have a vision for artificial intelligence have the potential to see real returns. Learn about the industry as a whole as well as seven companies that are getting work done with the power of AI.
