Financial Advocates Investment Management Purchases 199 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,167 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $347.41 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.31. The stock has a market cap of $332.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.14, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio 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.