Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,439,717 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,809 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.15% of Salesforce worth $378,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $275.86. 3,608,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,637,167. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $267.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,197,018 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.