Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 401 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Geneva Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,023 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after purchasing an additional 718,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.63, for a total value of $4,179,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,632,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,519,745,272.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,005,898 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $277.07. 722,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,439,611. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $292.87 and a 200-day moving average of $268.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Argus raised 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.