Cohen Capital Management Inc. Acquires 432 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cohen Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,791 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 1.3% of Cohen Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Cohen Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 428,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 428,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $912,699,429.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 454,152 shares of company stock valued at $122,552,011 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down previously from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Salesforce from $335.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $251.21. 5,341,963 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,942,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $256.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.90. The company has a market capitalization of $243.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.18, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

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.