Allen Capital Group LLC Makes New $243,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Allen Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 923 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,091,832,000 after purchasing an additional 391,648 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after buying an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $277.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $269.09 billion, a PE ratio of 66.05, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $298.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $260.79.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Nine 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,761,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. Corporate 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.