Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,251,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,064,978,000 after acquiring an additional 19,888 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $948,676,000 after purchasing an additional 309,881 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $648,591,000 after purchasing an additional 444,652 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $6.80 on Tuesday, reaching $268.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,211,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,632,453. The company has a market capitalization of $260.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $893,934.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,687,877.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 610,793 shares of company stock worth $179,197,018. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.