Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 438 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,609 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $344.07 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $338.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a PE ratio of 56.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.