Versant Capital Management Inc Has $496,000 Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 42.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.86.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $330.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $331.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 969 shares in the company, valued at $280,767.75. This represents a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total value of $1,211,364.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,186,017 shares of company stock worth $405,971,793. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.