PDS Planning Inc Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,711 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 7,095 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $551,000. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,177,866 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $393,796,000 after acquiring an additional 21,410 shares during the period. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,820,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays increased their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $364.14.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock valued at $383,156,227. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $280.83 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $269.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.19, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $317.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.53.

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.