Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Raised by GDS Wealth Management

GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,766 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,896 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 1.9% of GDS Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. GDS Wealth Management's holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 197,395 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $54,029,000 after acquiring an additional 12,314 shares during the last quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 46.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,328 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Herbst Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 10,110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,767,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthBridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $344.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,652,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,974,332. The business's fifty day moving average is $338.69 and its 200-day moving average is $299.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $329.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.