Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,731 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Argus Investors Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,731 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $982,000.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $949,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 18.8% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Price Performance
Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $302.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.30 billion, a PE ratio of 71.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.31 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.69, for a total value of $4,090,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,806,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,764,803,406.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 903,175 shares of company stock valued at $260,851,046 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.97.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Salesforce
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.
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