Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC Invests $3.53 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,527,000. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.5% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 226.5% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Coastline Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 4,964 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $274.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a PE ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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. 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 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.