Blume Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of CRM traded down $4.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $274.90. 1,904,162 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,460,142. The company has a market capitalization of $266.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.28, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. 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 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $293.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.99.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued 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 is presently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Argus raised their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.22, for a total value of $1,164,324.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,091,541.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total value of $4,386,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.22, for a total value of $1,164,324.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,091,541.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,212,898. 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.