Morling Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Morling Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 939 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Salesforce by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 5,859 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Salesforce by 733.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $406,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $325,000. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total value of $4,211,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,671,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,838,726,701.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $276.19. 3,934,969 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,697,396. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $296.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $267.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.