Vista Capital Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 781 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 781 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $328.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.05, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $335.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.