LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Boosts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,266 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 1.7% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. UBS Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.8 %

Salesforce stock traded down $5.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $321.14. 3,776,202 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,451,565. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $335.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.53. The stock has a market cap of $307.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.