Harfst & Associates Inc. Buys 496 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Harfst & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,589 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $330.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $293.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’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 value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.