Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA Acquires 145 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $324.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current 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. The company has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $337.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% 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.