AJOVista LLC Takes Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 775 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 20.6% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 20,100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 487,300 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $98,815,000 after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 8,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded up $1.53 on Friday, reaching $273.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. The company has a fifty day moving average of $294.23 and a 200-day moving average of $266.17. The company has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.76 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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 year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 629,993 shares of company stock valued at $184,255,474. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.