Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,107 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 40,680 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,425,000 after purchasing an additional 3,602 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 54,937 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,456,000 after purchasing an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in Salesforce by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 2,480 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $278,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total value of $4,125,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,677,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,486,391,698.27. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total transaction of $4,125,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,677,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,486,391,698.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.93, for a total value of $1,137,906.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,363,398.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 619,993 shares of company stock valued at $181,241,324 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $275.63. 3,722,938 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,550,575. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $266.81 billion, a PE ratio of 65.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $293.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.47. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 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.