MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Grows Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,919 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $733,805,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’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 $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $324.77 on Monday. 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 $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $337.31 and its 200-day moving average is $291.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.