Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 649 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,374 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 88.3% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 177 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE CRM opened at $325.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.67.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.