Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,652 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 0.5% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $111,860,000. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,167 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,745 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,255,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE CRM traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $318.29. 1,829,962 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,489,751. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.60 billion, a PE ratio of 52.35, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $335.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.73.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.