AA Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,340 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,694.92. This trade represents a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $343.51 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $328.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.50, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $338.53 and a 200 day moving average of $296.43. 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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.