Strategic Planning Group LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.0% of Strategic Planning Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $235,254.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares in the company, valued at $411,694.92. The trade was a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $354.14 on Thursday. 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 $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $337.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.