52,207 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Purchased by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 52,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,738,000. Salesforce accounts for about 1.8% of Suncoast Equity Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $5.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $278.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,312,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,666,982. The company has a market capitalization of $270.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.26. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total value of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock worth $260,206,096 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.