Hancock Whitney Corp Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,990 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $7.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $251.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,092,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,738,778. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.34 billion, a PE ratio of 46.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.25. 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 results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,589,786,616.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 294,242 shares of company stock worth $78,057,091. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.