Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 337 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,240 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.90. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.76 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a PE ratio of 65.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,782,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,536,230,764.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.