Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s 6th Largest Position

GraniteShares Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,524 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.5% of GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Argus boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday. Nine investment 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, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $4.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $277.41. 7,609,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,727,201. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.26. 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 firm has a market cap of $269.09 billion, a PE ratio of 66.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued 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 currently 9.52%.

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.