HTLF Bank Purchases Shares of 1,258 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Echo45 Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,175 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gray Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.55, for a total transaction of $4,238,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,731,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,740,953.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.55, for a total transaction of $4,238,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,731,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,740,953.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 628,184 shares of company stock valued at $184,794,698. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $270.45 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.43. The firm has a market cap of $262.34 billion, a PE ratio of 64.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.