MWA Asset Management Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

MWA Asset Management trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,823 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 103.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 54,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,494,000 after acquiring an additional 27,850 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $233,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 180.6% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,520 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 4,840 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,451 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,967,000 after buying an additional 4,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,954 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Piper Sandler lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.36.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.31. The stock has a market cap of $309.07 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total value of $771,495.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,122.20. This trade represents a 44.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company 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.