MCF Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 39.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $44,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.79. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total value of $4,179,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,701,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,817,418,870.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total transaction of $4,179,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,701,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,817,418,870.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

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.