Millington Financial Advisors LLC Buys 789 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Millington Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,618 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.1% of Millington Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Millington Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third 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 last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $295.01 billion, a PE ratio of 50.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.