Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,101 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 91.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,403 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the quarter. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $8.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $309.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,341,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,249,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $333.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce 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.