Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,014 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 0.8% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $733,805,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $323.31 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two 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 cap of $309.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.18, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

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.