Meitav Investment House Ltd. Has $43.44 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 129,932 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 55,585 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $43,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.84.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $324.19 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $310.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $335.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.66. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’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 transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,117,641 shares of company stock valued at $386,408,308. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.