Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Arlington Trust Co LLC

Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 85.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $326.95 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $301.03. The firm has a market cap of $312.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.