Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 556 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 556 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $273,000. Invst LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 9.8% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $964,000. Finally, Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $1,278,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $336.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce 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.