673 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Bought by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 673 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.81 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a PE ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $339.05 and a 200-day moving average of $299.87. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.