Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,400 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 779 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.4% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $35,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total transaction of $4,179,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,701,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,817,418,870.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 611,379 shares of company stock valued at $179,698,420. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.63. 6,283,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.57 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $296.91 and a 200-day moving average of $263.28. The stock has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.