Allen Capital Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nvest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $354.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

About Salesforce

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.