Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Increased by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.6% of First Pacific Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Courier Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 12,802 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 30,849 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,118,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 8,076 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $301.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.31 and a 1 year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.61, for a total value of $3,774,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,896,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,496,414,327.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.61, for a total transaction of $3,774,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,896,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,496,414,327.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 898,507 shares of company stock valued at $255,293,063 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.32.

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.