Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,867 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,091,832,000 after purchasing an additional 391,648 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,012 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,252,257 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,559,293,833.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,559,293,833.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $270.37. The stock had a trading volume of 4,913,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,856,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $262.26 billion, a PE ratio of 64.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.57 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $297.28 and its 200-day moving average is $261.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

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.