Wealthspire Advisors LLC Purchases 332 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,898 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $309.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $306.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value 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 approximately $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,114 shares of company stock worth $381,142,656. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.