Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $4.92 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,682 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.1% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $273.40 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.65 billion, a PE ratio of 65.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total value of $2,889,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,455,994.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total value of $2,889,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,455,994.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 624,193 shares of company stock worth $182,212,898. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.