Balentine LLC Makes New $237,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 710 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RBA Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 639 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Salesforce by 155.4% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 116,004 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $31,751,000 after purchasing an additional 70,580 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 101,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $27,664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $159,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $326.95 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $338.97 and a 200-day moving average of $301.03. The company has a market capitalization of $312.89 billion, a PE ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,705,195. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.