West Branch Capital LLC Acquires 1,576 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 59.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,223 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,172,167 shares of company stock valued at $402,223,235 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7 %

Salesforce stock opened at $326.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $312.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $336.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Company 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.