Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 140.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth 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. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.5 %

CRM opened at $268.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $260.87 billion, a PE ratio of 64.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.82, for a total transaction of $4,287,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,581,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,768,866.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,074,618 in the last 90 days. 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.