Cove Private Wealth LLC Acquires 2,487 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cove Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 58.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,712 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 1.3% of Cove Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Cove Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

CRM stock opened at $324.77 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $337.31 and its 200 day moving average is $291.80. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. 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 posted 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.