Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Holdings Raised by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,520 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $275.17. 4,661,157 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,493,350. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $266.36 billion, a PE ratio of 65.52, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total transaction of $4,386,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total value of $4,386,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,455,994.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 639,193 shares of company stock worth $186,392,348 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.