Jennison Associates LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 52.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 0.9% of Jennison Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,482,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $341.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.99. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, 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 transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.