Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Invests $232,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,397,516 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,420,302,000 after acquiring an additional 145,625 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. Finally, 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. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $277.21. 3,507,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,527,244. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $268.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 634,993 shares of company stock valued at $185,373,074 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.