World Equity Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,274 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,274 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,342,415. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,114 shares of company stock worth $381,142,656. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $309.54 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.