Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Boosted by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,362 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 599 shares during the quarter. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 28.6% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Salesforce by 6.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 197,395 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $54,029,000 after acquiring an additional 12,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unique Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 12.9% in the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 6,972 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $341.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.75. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $327.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.