Portfolio Design Labs LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,387 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,246 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,088 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 7,205 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,409,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $237,000. Finally, New Republic Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 1,949 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.53. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.