Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Makes New $212,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during 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 grew its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third 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 period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second 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. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $324.77 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $337.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.56. The company has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.