Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,768 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,825 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 149,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $49,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,407 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,583,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,374 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,152,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.81 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.67. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $311.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.59, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.