Courier Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Courier Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,802 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. High Note Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 30,849 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,118,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its position in Salesforce by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 8,076 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, Gemmer Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $301.41 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $293.59 and its 200-day moving average is $251.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.37 billion, a PE ratio of 71.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.31 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 12,249 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.94, for a total transaction of $3,245,250.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,979 shares in the company, valued at $10,062,156.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 12,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.94, for a total value of $3,245,250.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,062,156.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 898,507 shares of company stock worth $255,293,063. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.32.

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.