Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 817,335 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 807,185 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Salesforce worth $273,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avion Wealth increased its stake in Salesforce by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 196 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 147.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,232,922 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $407,828,000 after acquiring an additional 734,272 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 38,200 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,771,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Davidson Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,189 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $326.26 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.96. The firm has a market cap of $312.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.66, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 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 $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.