Echo45 Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 660 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Echo45 Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 660 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $332.67 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.92.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock worth $401,945,558 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.