Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Has $6.70 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,046 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 0.8% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $333.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $319.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 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 current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.01.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.