Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 1,909 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,080 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,909 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 0.6% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $242,000. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $263,000. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

CRM stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $338.89 and a 200-day moving average of $301.53. The company has a market cap of $310.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.37, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. 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 (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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.