Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 44.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,221 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,217 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 1.1% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 38.3% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 7,718 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,706,289 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $438,687,000 after acquiring an additional 112,690 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.0% in the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Salesforce by 6.8% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 64,280 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2 %

CRM stock traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $318.39. 1,577,912 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,454,844. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $335.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.73. The company has a market capitalization of $304.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

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.