L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Buys New Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 601 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $338.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current 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 $0.40 dividend. 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 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.