Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 86 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,925 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Legal Advantage Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.57 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 is currently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,687,877.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 596,379 shares of company stock worth $175,587,970 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.