Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Raised by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 44.6%, acquiring an additional 17,653 shares, bringing its total holdings to 57,217 shares valued at approximately $15.35 million.
• Analysts have provided a mixed outlook on Salesforce, with Barclays lowering their price target while others, like Piper Sandler, increased theirs, maintaining a consensus average price target of $347.50.
• CEO Marc Benioff recently sold 2,250 shares at an average price of $234.64, decreasing his ownership slightly, while corporate insiders sold a total of 46,532 shares in the last 90 days.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 44.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 17,653 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $361,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,592 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 925,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $309,520,000 after buying an additional 156,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $342.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.49, for a total transaction of $543,352.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,525,280.79. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 48,782 shares of company stock worth $12,626,046 over the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.71 on Monday, hitting $244.15. The company had a trading volume of 8,802,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,312,840. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $233.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.