Westwind Capital Buys Shares of 40,812 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Westwind Capital purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,812 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,645,000. Salesforce accounts for about 3.0% of Westwind Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 421.9% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 165,858 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $42,633,000 after purchasing an additional 134,079 shares during the period. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,263 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.0% in the second quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 1,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 22.4% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 14.3% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 97,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,077,000 after acquiring an additional 12,227 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $6.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $323.94. 3,351,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,443,352. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.39.

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.