GDS Wealth Management Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,363 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 1.7% of GDS Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $3.80 on Thursday, reaching $275.17. The company had a trading volume of 4,661,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,493,350. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $292.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.07. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $266.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,455,994.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,455,994.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.63, for a total transaction of $4,179,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,632,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,519,745,272.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 639,193 shares of company stock worth $186,392,348 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.