Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Diversify Advisory Services LLC

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,430 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE CRM opened at $324.77 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,767.75. This trade represents a 86.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.