QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 181,408 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,463 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 0.6% of QRG Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $60,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $330.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

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.