Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,384 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock valued at $401,945,558. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $332.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.