Sherman Asset Management Inc. Invests $111,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 333 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 2,841 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 22,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,067,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 58,996 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $17,136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $329.11 and a 200 day moving average of $307.58. The company has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

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.