Mathes Company Inc. Acquires 73 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mathes Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,825 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Mathes Company Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $401,215,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 99.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,196,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $675,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595,733 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.7 %

CRM stock traded up $4.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $277.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,622,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,727,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.26. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.40, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,539,948.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,539,948.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Argus increased their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

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.