Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 1,367 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,329 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,367 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.1% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $305.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $336.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given 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 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares in the company, valued at $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.