Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $18.71 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 1.4% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Nine research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,782,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,536,230,764.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 635,793 shares of company stock valued at $186,389,768. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $3.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $273.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,809,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,686,380. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $296.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.44. The stock has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.