939 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Purchased by Morling Financial Advisors LLC

Morling Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 939 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after buying an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after buying an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after acquiring an additional 718,245 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $0.49 on Wednesday, hitting $276.19. The company had a trading volume of 3,934,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,697,396. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $296.91 and a 200-day moving average of $263.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Company 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.