Hudson Canyon Capital Management Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hudson Canyon Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,449,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.6% of Hudson Canyon Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,605,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,919 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,316,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 62,039 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $20,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 9,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,021,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 422,598 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $141,287,000 after buying an additional 26,160 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. 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 50-day moving average of $336.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.42. The company has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.