Sierra Ocean LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mainsail Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,266 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,432,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,936 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,394 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,821,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copperleaf Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 4,401 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average of $303.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.