Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 829 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after purchasing an additional 718,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 624,193 shares of company stock worth $182,212,898. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $278.85. 3,282,396 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,499,356. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.