LVW Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 198 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,562.4% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 13,233 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,424,000 after purchasing an additional 12,437 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,407 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,220,000 after buying an additional 8,722 shares during the period. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,875 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $658,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,173,477 shares of company stock worth $402,596,964. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.