Principal Securities Inc. Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,673 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,262 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RBA Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 102.7% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,899 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $336.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.