1,354 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Acquired by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock worth $401,945,558 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $332.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.20. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.