Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 86 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,925 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 65.20, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.00 and its 200-day moving average is $262.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce 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.