Leuthold Group LLC Takes Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,087 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Salesforce by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $333.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. 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 earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Piper Sandler set a $405.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

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.