Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Purchases 1,284 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,917 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $262.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.23, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.30. 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 fifty-two week low of $227.77 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.34.

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.