Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock Holdings Lessened by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC decreased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,730 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $242,000. TFB Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $263,000. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.37, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $338.89 and a 200-day moving average of $301.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.