LWM Advisory Services LLC Takes $265,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 798 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in 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. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in 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. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $309.54 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $333.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.53.

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.