Motive Wealth Advisors Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Motive Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,068 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Motive Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $334.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.20. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.