Hickory Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,472 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.