Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,240 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. increased its position in Salesforce by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,901 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the business’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 $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.76 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $295.97 and its 200-day moving average is $263.90. The stock has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 9.52%.

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.