Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,447 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

CRM stock traded down $3.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $326.87. 2,321,970 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,243,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $333.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.43. The company has a market capitalization of $312.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.76, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.39.

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.