Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 752 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,760 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $337.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio 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 shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,173,477 shares of company stock valued at $402,596,964 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.