Strs Ohio Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 402,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 10,787 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $105,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $401,215,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Salesforce by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,196,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $675,370,000 after buying an additional 1,595,733 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total transaction of $4,491,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,958,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,880,100,241.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $4.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $294.32. The company had a trading volume of 3,819,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,433,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.08, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.45 and a 12-month high of $318.71. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

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.