Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,164,080 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,939 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.22% of Salesforce worth $569,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $166,637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.61.
Read Our Latest Report on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %
NYSE:CRM traded up $0.91 on Monday, reaching $277.58. 2,998,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,438,188. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $268.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.09, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $291.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.59.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid 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 yield of 0.58%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total value of $4,148,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,602,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total value of $4,148,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,485,677,624.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 614,193 shares of company stock worth $178,936,148 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Company Profile
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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.
Further Reading
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