Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Salesforce by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 506,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $102,660,000 after acquiring an additional 20,625 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 24,715 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,012,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total value of $4,386,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,521,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,953,994,573.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total transaction of $4,386,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,953,994,573.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 624,193 shares of company stock valued at $182,212,898 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $278.85. 3,282,396 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,499,356. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $269.93 billion, a PE ratio of 66.39, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.99.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

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.