Kathmere Capital Management LLC Acquires 76 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,064 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $320.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $337.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.87. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $307.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

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.