Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Purchases 3,239 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,573 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,239 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $638,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Salesforce by 130.7% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 187,072 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $48,096,000 after acquiring an additional 105,972 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.4% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,464 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $343.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $338.53 and its 200-day moving average is $296.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $328.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. 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 posted 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.