Abbrea Capital LLC Has $12.37 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Abbrea Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,385 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 1.8% of Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,683 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,965,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 84,828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $22,322,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management lifted its stake in Salesforce by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 60,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morling Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $247,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,686,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,661,739. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.44.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.05, for a total transaction of $4,275,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,656,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,892,690,118.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.