Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,682 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.1% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $273.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $293.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.65 billion, a PE ratio of 65.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 624,193 shares of company stock worth $182,212,898. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.