Rep. James Comer Purchases Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Representative James Comer (R-Kentucky) recently bought shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM). In a filing disclosed on January 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Salesforce stock on January 2nd.

Representative James Comer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Dover (NYSE:DOV) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amphenol (NYSE:APH) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 1/2/2025.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $324.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,268,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,689,873. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $310.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $336.76 and a 200-day moving average of $290.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

About Representative Comer

James Comer Jr. (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District. He assumed office on November 14, 2016. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Comer (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022. Prior to serving in Congress, Comer was the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2012 to 2016, and the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2001 to 2012. He also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Kentucky in 2015. A writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal called Comer “instrumental in the final passage of a five-year farm bill,” noting that he served on the conference committee that produced the final version of the bill. Comer is from Tompkinsville, Ky. He acted as the director of South Central Bank for 12 years and has been the co-owner of the Comer Land and Cattle Company. He previously served as president of CFB Foods Incorporated from 2001 to 2003 and president of Comer and Polston Insurance Incorporated from 1993 to 1995.

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.