Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 415.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 954 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,679 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.34.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE CRM opened at $264.56 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.77 and a 12 month high of $369.00. 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 $252.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.58.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.