Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,873 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,984 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 1.5% of Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after buying an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after buying an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after acquiring an additional 718,245 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,521,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total value of $4,126,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,752,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,782,587.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 4,204 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.00, for a total value of $1,168,712.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,752,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,782,587.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,197,018. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $275.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,608,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,637,167. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.