Prentice Wealth Management LLC Buys 79 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Variant Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $371,000. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $698,000. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $309.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.25. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lowered Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.