Iowa State Bank Decreases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Iowa State Bank decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,069 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.5% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,186,017 shares of company stock worth $405,971,793 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $329.54. 2,829,108 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,849,281. The company has a market cap of $315.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $332.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.81. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.