Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New $62,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 185 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.