EdgeRock Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 506,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $102,660,000 after acquiring an additional 20,625 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 9.9% during the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 19,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 6.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total value of $4,131,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,662,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 634,993 shares of company stock worth $185,373,074 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.58 on Tuesday, reaching $277.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,507,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,527,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $268.34 billion, a PE ratio of 66.00, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $293.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.99. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.