Nvest Financial LLC Has $938,000 Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $938,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.5% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,031 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,721,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 410,251 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $105,476,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 32.1% during the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Ted Buchan & Co acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $871,000. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,041,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction 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 represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $360.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $344.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.21, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $337.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush restated 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 assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

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.