Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Athena Investment Management bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $236,000. Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $4,321,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $270.04 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $309.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $216,646.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,361,054.76. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $311.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.74.

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.