New Century Financial Group LLC Buys 582 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

New Century Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,695 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 22.1% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,824 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 82.0% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,746 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 4,843 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,090,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $626,519,000 after purchasing an additional 402,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total transaction of $4,530,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,936,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,907,110,216.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.75, for a total value of $1,267,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 105,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,936,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total value of $4,530,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,936,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,907,110,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock valued at $136,281,661. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

CRM stock traded up $4.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $260.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,755,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,006,645. The firm has a market cap of $252.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

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.