Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 747 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,239 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 13,048 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 228,938 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $76,541,000 after acquiring an additional 26,464 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 80,591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,944,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $235,254.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,694.92. The trade was a 36.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock worth $383,286,905 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $341.80 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30.

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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

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.