River Global Investors LLP Purchases 1,518 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

River Global Investors LLP increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,971 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.82, for a total value of $4,287,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,581,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,768,866.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.82, for a total value of $4,287,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,581,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,768,866.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,455,994.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $273.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.76 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $294.23 and a 200 day moving average of $266.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Argus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.