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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Onefund LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 479,272 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $160,235,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.21. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.