Addison Advisors LLC Buys 41 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,576 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 25.7% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $293,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 7.8% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the third quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Progressive Investment Management Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Progressive Investment Management Corp now owns 23,737 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,813,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

CRM traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $274.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.76 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $295.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.