Wealth Effects LLC Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wealth Effects LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 930 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Wealth Effects LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 10.9% during the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Invst LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $964,000. Finally, Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $1,278,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0 %

CRM opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.60. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.