Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC Invests $232,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 694 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock valued at $402,840,388 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $334.75 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.20. The firm has a market cap of $320.36 billion, a PE ratio of 55.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 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.