HBW Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,402 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HBW Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,770 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,402 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 0.7% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.0 %

Salesforce stock traded down $6.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $320.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,319,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,564,206. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $335.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.53. The firm has a market cap of $306.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

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.