Harfst & Associates Inc. Buys 496 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Harfst & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,589 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Apriem Advisors bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $299,000. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,611 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,549,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 5,787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 10,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,508,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $293.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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). 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.