Sunflower Bank N.A. Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $336.25 and a 200 day moving average of $290.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $305.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.