Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 518 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,134 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $258.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $268.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,219.12. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283 in the last 90 days. 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.