Portside Wealth Group LLC Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,147 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Salesforce stock opened at $324.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick 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 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.