Empirical Finance LLC Has $10.43 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,632 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,152 shares of company stock valued at $118,115,911 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie reduced their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $2.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $253.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,692,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,925,801. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $256.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $275.90. The company has a market capitalization of $246.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.84, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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