Catalina Capital Group LLC Purchases 1,625 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 201.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,433 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 454,152 shares of company stock valued at $122,552,011 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $252.61. The company had a trading volume of 8,945,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,954,869. 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 cap of $244.78 billion, a PE ratio of 44.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $257.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.19%.

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.