Vawter Financial Ltd. Lowers Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Vawter Financial Ltd. trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after buying an additional 96,381 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

Salesforce stock opened at $328.62 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.