Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Raised by Capital Analysts LLC

Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total value of $4,046,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total value of $2,702,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,179,231.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total value of $4,046,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.26.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded down $21.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $272.90. 18,307,227 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,700,249. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

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.