CRA Financial Services LLC Takes $226,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CRA Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 857 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $270.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,913,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,856,009. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $297.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.86. The firm has a market cap of $262.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock valued at $184,794,698. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.