Avion Wealth Acquires 101 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 106.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 196 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Avion Wealth’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.