Howard Financial Services LTD. Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,416 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $324.77 on Friday. 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 $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $337.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.