Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC Makes New $35,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 105 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $329.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $307.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.16%.

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.