Mcrae Capital Management Inc. Buys 3,923 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mcrae Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,227 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,923 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 3.0% of Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $330.19 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.13. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $315.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.