Lion Street Advisors LLC Takes Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 624 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Salesforce by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 197,395 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $54,029,000 after acquiring an additional 12,314 shares in the last quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 21,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of Kansas lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 21,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,964,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Salesforce stock opened at $347.41 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $338.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.31. The firm has a market cap of $332.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. 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 announced its earnings results 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.