Rational Advisors LLC Invests $3.68 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,678,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after buying an additional 17,350 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $340,000. Embree Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 4,478 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the third quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE CRM opened at $325.49 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $336.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.