JGP Wealth Management LLC Purchases 122 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

JGP Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Salesforce by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 18,356 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,719,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,533 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $215,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.8% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,665 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $674,801,000 after purchasing an additional 692,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venator Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $643,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $320.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $337.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. 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.