Spire Wealth Management Has $11.43 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,680 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,602 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after buying an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $166,637,000 after acquiring an additional 6,888 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRM traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $273.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $294.23 and a 200 day moving average of $267.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total value of $4,042,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,707,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

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.