881 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Bought by Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.58 on Tuesday, hitting $277.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,507,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,527,244. The stock has a market cap of $268.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.99. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total value of $2,889,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,455,994.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total value of $2,889,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,455,994.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 634,993 shares of company stock worth $185,373,074 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.