Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $252,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 754 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $330.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. 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 issued its 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.