Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 60,931 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,971 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,931 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $87,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,998,000 after purchasing an additional 931,566 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $307.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid 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 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.