Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,290 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Nvest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $333.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.18. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,342,415. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $216,646.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 121,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,361,054.76. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,114 shares of company stock valued at $381,142,656 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

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.