First Horizon Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,451 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.18. 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 firm has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

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). 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%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective 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 boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,114 shares of company stock worth $381,142,656 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.