Pure Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 459 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 50.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. New Hampshire Trust boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 11,965 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,000,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,090 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 1,006 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Gemmer Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,330,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,172,167 shares of company stock valued at $402,223,235 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7 %

Salesforce stock opened at $326.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $312.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.76, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $336.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.