Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 4,023 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,570 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,023 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $41,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,998,000 after acquiring an additional 931,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE CRM opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $328.10 and its 200 day moving average is $308.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results 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). The business 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robin L. Washington acquired 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,799,331.45. This trade represents a 4.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

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.