Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Cut by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,336 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 507 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 506,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $102,660,000 after buying an additional 20,625 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 9.9% during the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 19,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after buying an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $3.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $275.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,707,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,493,349. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $292.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.07. The firm has a market cap of $266.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total value of $4,386,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,953,994,573.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,212,898 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial restated 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. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

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.