Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 217,341 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,847 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $72,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $332.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $318.37 billion, a PE ratio of 54.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.92.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,171,198 shares of company stock worth $401,945,558 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.