Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by GDS Wealth Management

GDS Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,363 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.7% of GDS Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $275.17. 4,661,157 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,493,350. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $292.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,455,994.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 639,193 shares of company stock valued at $186,392,348. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.