Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 11,435 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,712 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,435 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $33,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 95.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,624,520 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $462,063,000 after acquiring an additional 794,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $336.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $216,646.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,361,054.76. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.