ERn Financial LLC Invests $262,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

ERn Financial LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 19,225 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 343 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $10,931,000. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $2,084,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $320.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $307.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $337.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce 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.