Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 147.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,232,922 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 734,272 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 0.7% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.13% of Salesforce worth $407,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RBA Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after buying an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $338.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.53. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.