Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Lifted by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,459 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 0.7% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $271.56. 2,365,195 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,664,970. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.