Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,859 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $229,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,158 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,739,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 923 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $336.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.60. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.