Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,034 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 22,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $15,117,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,949 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $324.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $337.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.56. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month 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 market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.