Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 414 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,721 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Salesforce by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after acquiring an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $3,843,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,926,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,440,775.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 913,507 shares of company stock valued at $259,814,813 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $301.18. The stock had a trading volume of 4,876,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,980. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $187.31 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.10.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.