Howard Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,922 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,922 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $337.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.33. 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 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Northland Securities restated 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.