Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,948 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $41,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $330.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $374.47.

Salesforce 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.