W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,056 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,056 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 11,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. River Global Investors LLP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 7,971 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,281 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1,442.3% in the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 70,577 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $18,572,000 after acquiring an additional 66,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 102.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,000,000 after acquiring an additional 3,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Nine investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.53 on Friday, hitting $273.66. 4,041,636 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year 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 has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $294.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.