Baker Chad R Purchases New Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Baker Chad R bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,939,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 77.1% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,499 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,055 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $337.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.08. The company has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.