Convergence Financial LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Convergence Financial LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.47.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $330.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.97. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.