Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 731 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,721 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $323.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $336.76 and a 200-day moving average of $290.66.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’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 value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.