Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 105 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 56,872.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $311,998,000 after acquiring an additional 931,566 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $329.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.58.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.16%.

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.