Fiduciary Group LLC Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,697 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,068 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $370,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Salesforce by 330.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $189,779,000 after purchasing an additional 718,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $114,521,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho restated a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

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.