Michael S. Ryan Inc. Invests $226,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 677 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.0% during the second quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 1,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 978.9% in the second quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,890 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 8,066 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% in the second quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 13,638 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 316.2% during the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 35,587 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,149,000 after purchasing an additional 27,037 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,551,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.74 on Wednesday, reaching $326.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,752,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,617,856. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $334.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.99. The firm has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

About Salesforce

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.