USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC Takes $369,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,105 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $354.14 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $337.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $338.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. 3.20% 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.