National Pension Service Buys 128,978 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,047,920 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,978 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.6% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. National Pension Service’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $684,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.47.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $306.02 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $331.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.