Copeland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,142 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 8,505 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,618,407,000 after buying an additional 96,381 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.8 %

CRM stock traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $346.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,520,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,007,716. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $338.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $331.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.