Aprio Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,665 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $893,934.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,169,296 shares of company stock worth $326,477,726 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.32.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.6 %

CRM stock traded down $1.79 on Monday, reaching $305.98. 4,140,308 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,845,122. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $187.31 and a one year 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 company has a market cap of $296.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

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.