Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,814 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $324.19 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $310.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.32, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,342,415. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,117,641 shares of company stock worth $386,408,308 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.84.

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.