Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 159.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,692 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,963 shares during the period. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.0% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,426 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 44.8% during the third quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 14.8% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,228 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,899,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.15 on Friday, reaching $274.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.76 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $295.97 and its 200 day moving average is $264.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

About Salesforce

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.