Mirador Capital Partners LP Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

CRM stock opened at $322.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $336.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.66. The firm has a market cap of $308.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.99, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

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.