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

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

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $305.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.53, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % 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 valued at $403,542,975. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Company 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.