Essex Financial Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.53. The stock has a market cap of $310.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.