Klingman & Associates LLC Buys 77 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,855 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $328.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $335.64 and a 200-day moving average of $304.52. The firm has a market cap of $314.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.05, a P/E/G 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.