Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Invests $306,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 916 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $235,254.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $411,694.92. This represents a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $354.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $337.96 and its 200 day moving average is $296.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.