Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $325.81 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $339.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.87. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.49%. 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.