Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 153,500 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,066,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 153,500 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,028,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. State Street Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $328.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.16. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year 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 market cap of $280.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.