New York Life Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,347 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $40,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,074,618 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $268.69. The company had a trading volume of 3,759,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,610,178. The company has a market capitalization of $260.63 billion, a PE ratio of 63.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $295.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

About Salesforce

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.