Delap Wealth Advisory LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Delap Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,336 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total value of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,342,415. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of CRM opened at $309.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $333.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.72. The firm has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.53.

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.