SouthState Corp Sells 148 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

SouthState Corp trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,818 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after buying an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $166,637,000 after buying an additional 6,888 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $3.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $272.13. 3,655,176 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,587,200. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.76 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $295.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.67. The company has a market cap of $263.97 billion, a PE ratio of 64.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.93, for a total value of $1,137,906.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,363,398.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 614,993 shares of company stock worth $180,212,524 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Argus raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus restated 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 restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce 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.