Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,336 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $3.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $323.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,161,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,731,406. The stock has a market cap of $309.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.87.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.