Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,803 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $4.00 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $326.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,622,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,317,451. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $312.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $333.53 and a 200-day moving average of $287.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.39.

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.