Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $276.33 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.89. The company has a market cap of $268.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.79, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.