Merit Financial Group LLC Has $6.86 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,546 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,605,219.12. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $264.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.77 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.