Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.47. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % 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, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,173,477 shares of company stock valued at $402,596,964. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.