V Square Quantitative Management LLC Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,032 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 1.1% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Salesforce by 46.7% during 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 lifted its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $330.19 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.13.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.