Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Acquires 50 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,372 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $274.48 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.19. The firm has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.