Callahan Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 377 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,705,195. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $336.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $303.93.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.