Pure Financial Advisors LLC Buys 459 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $53,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,172,167 shares of company stock valued at $402,223,235 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $326.85 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.79 billion, a PE ratio of 53.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $336.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.47. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.