LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Buys 1,508 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,266 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 1.7% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $5.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $321.14. 3,776,202 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,451,565. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $307.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.53. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.