Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,757 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 2.3% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 725 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,622 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 30,064 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,911,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial grew its position in Salesforce by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 7,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Finally, Courier Capital LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 12,802 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,369,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 898,507 shares of company stock valued at $255,293,063 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $1.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $300.31. 1,626,185 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,708,758. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.31 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $293.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

Salesforce 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.