HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 33.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,698 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,980 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,874,900,000 after acquiring an additional 114,278 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.
View Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.11, for a total transaction of $605,497.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,205,522,871.81. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,979 shares of company stock worth $10,303,399. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Stock Down 0.0%
Shares of CRM traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $267.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,394,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,078,501. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $267.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.24. The company has a market cap of $255.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.82, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.
About Salesforce
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Salesforce, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Salesforce wasn't on the list.
While Salesforce currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
