Opes Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 922,149 shares of company stock valued at $267,104,898. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $4.47 on Thursday, hitting $271.85. The stock had a trading volume of 5,916,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,708,409. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $298.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.89.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.