Phocas Financial Corp. Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 506.1% in the third quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 200 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 113.4% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 350.0% during the 2nd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 225 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, TimeScale Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 576.9% during the 3rd quarter. TimeScale Financial Inc. now owns 264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $162.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, November 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $230.00 in a report on Thursday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bret Steven Taylor sold 1,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total value of $132,920.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 901,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $115,848,617.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 186 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total value of $28,939.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,066.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bret Steven Taylor sold 1,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total transaction of $132,920.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 901,195 shares in the company, valued at $115,848,617.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,268 shares of company stock worth $6,641,547 in the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $184.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $184.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 880.28, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $126.34 and a one year high of $222.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.99 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 4.48%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 10.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.