Telemus Capital LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Telemus Capital LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,780 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Telemus Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.57 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.00 and its 200 day moving average is $262.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. 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 report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.