Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Davidson Investment Advisors

Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 1.4% of Davidson Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $27,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $340,000. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 158.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 168.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $336.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.42. 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 cap of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % 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 link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce 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 assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

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.