Asset Planning Inc Buys New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 93 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $337.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.33. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.