Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Has $22.32 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 84,828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 1.0% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,901 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.42 on Friday, reaching $274.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,867,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,638,295. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.76 and a 1 year high of $318.71. 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’s fifty day moving average is $296.28 and its 200 day moving average is $263.44. The company has a market cap of $266.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.67, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend 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 currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

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.