Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Buys 988 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.4% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,226,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,224 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,683 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $5,965,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 84,828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $22,322,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value 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 approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value 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 approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 4,204 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.00, for a total value of $1,168,712.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 635,793 shares of company stock worth $186,389,768 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

CRM traded down $3.10 on Thursday, hitting $273.09. 4,809,033 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,686,380. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.