V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,032 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 1.1% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Salesforce by 8.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the third quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 8,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 9.5% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $330.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $315.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $337.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.13. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.