Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 36.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,366,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 368,603 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.3% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Salesforce worth $359,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during 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 raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $166,637,000 after acquiring an additional 6,888 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.93, for a total transaction of $1,137,906.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,363,398.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 614,993 shares of company stock valued at $180,212,524 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.2 %

Salesforce stock traded up $3.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $271.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,823,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,565,270. 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 stock has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.76 and a one year high of $318.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $295.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.67.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.