Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Boosted by Field & Main Bank

Field & Main Bank boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,022 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $275.86. 3,608,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,637,167. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market cap of $267.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,752,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,782,587.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,752,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,782,587.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 610,793 shares of company stock worth $179,197,018. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.