Clearstead Trust LLC Boosts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 0.9% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in 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 lifted its stake in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after buying an additional 1,400,300 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 47.5% in 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 buying an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 330.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $189,779,000 after buying an additional 718,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.53 on Friday, hitting $273.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. 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 52-week low of $190.76 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $294.23 and a 200 day moving average of $266.17. The company has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.