Brio Consultants LLC Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brio Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,319 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares in the company, valued at $411,694.92. This trade represents a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $341.80 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $338.67 and a 200 day moving average of $297.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 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.