Gries Financial LLC Purchases 187 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gries Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,391 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $638,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Salesforce by 130.7% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 187,072 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $48,096,000 after buying an additional 105,972 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23.4% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,464 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE CRM opened at $343.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $338.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $328.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.