Leuthold Group LLC Takes $698,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,087 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Bank of Stockton grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $405.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $333.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.72. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,342,415. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.