Athena Investment Management Acquires New Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Athena Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 705 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $329.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

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.