Old Port Advisors Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Old Port Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 868 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,186,017 shares of company stock worth $405,971,793. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $330.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $331.09 and a 200-day moving average of $285.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $316.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.