Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Delap Wealth Advisory LLC

Delap Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,336 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. 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 50 day moving average of $333.34 and a 200-day moving average of $305.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Salesforce

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.