Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $431,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $2,499,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $270.45. The stock had a trading volume of 4,906,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,698,991. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.57 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.39, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.