Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires 637 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 67,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,000. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 139.0% in the fourth quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 251 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $278.85. 3,282,396 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,499,356. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $293.29 and a 200-day moving average of $267.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.22, for a total value of $1,164,324.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at $32,091,541.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,212,898. Corporate insiders own 3.70% 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.